13th November 2016

NO 2,072

SUNDAY, 13 NOVEMBER, 2016

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Polity The

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We are not afraid to die

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Ondo

Before the Judgement Day INTERVIEWS:

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Why they want Jegede out —Mimiko How I will transform Ondo —Oke

Women confront soldiers •Shiites tell govt, defy ban, stage massive in Tompolo’s village pg4

protest in Kaduna

•As troops storm Gbaramatu communities in gunboats

Nigeria yet to have the right leader —Fayose

A BRAND NEW GOV... Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Crowell Idahosa (left) administering oath of office on Mr Godwin Obaseki as Governor of Edo State, while his wife and others watch, on Saturday.

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Obaseki sworn in as Edo gov

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•Promises 200,000 jobs, development •As PDP group vows to reclaim mandate

We’ll resist attempt to rubbish Tinubu

•Loyalists of APC leader vow

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Horror as trailer crushes 5 in Ibadan •Many injured

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news

13 November, 2016

Women confront troops in Tompolo’s village Ebenezer Adurokiya -Warri

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HERE was palpable fear in Gbaramatu Kingdom on Saturday afternoon after a reported invasion of Oporoza the homestead of militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, by troops attached to Sector 1, JTF, Operation Delta Safe.

Sunday Tribune gathered that some women of Oporoza had to confront the soldiers to coerce the troops to leave their community.

A source said the women who embarked on a protest, locally called Ogele, confronted the troops said to be in tens, insisting that they must leave Oporoza.

The troops were said to have initially remained adamant, but eventually removed one of their gunboats, which got stuck in the deep creek and headed to four other communities.

The four other communities reportedly invaded were Mekama, Tejubor, Okpaleme (which were invaded a week ago) as well as Okerenkoko.

Nobody was, however, reportedly arrested during the raid, as most of the youths had fled into the deep forest when the troops stormed the communities.

A teenager, simply identified as Job told Sunday Tribune on phone in pidgin that most of the youths who took cover in the forest of

Oporoza had returned to the community in twos and threes, as of the time of filing this report.

“The soldier people don commot. They

Members of the I Stand With Tinubu group, during the rally in support of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, in Lagos, on Saturday.

We’ll resist attempt to rubbish Tinubu —Loyalists Chukwuma Okparaocha -Lagos A group of young men and women, on Saturday, staged a peaceful solidarity walk in support of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, who they believe has been sidelined by some powers within the party.

The group, I Stand with Tinubu, which organised the walk, noted that the event, which was termed “Loyalty Walk,” was necessary as there was the need to show support for Senator Tinubu, following his alleged maltreatment by forces within the APC, as evident in the ex-Lagos State governor’s recent standoff with the National chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun.

Participants in the walk, mostly youths, converged in front of the Lagos State House of Assembly, where they mobilised for an onward march to the APC state secretariat on ACME Road, in Ogba area of Lagos.

Addressing the crowd, Lagos APC chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale said the leaders of the party would resist any attempt to rubbish the party’s national leader.

He said those trying to undermine the leadership of Tinubu in APC were not helping the country.

“When people decided to gang up against one single person who had fashioned out the progress of this country, I believe that it is touching on its future and that, I believe, cannot be allowed. The youths

did the rally because they saw the injustice against the man who started the whole revolution that made Nigeria to have a change of government after 16 years of rule by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“The man that started the whole revolution is now being rubbished because of the inordinate ambition

of very few members of the party. They want to destroy the party and that is why we are concerned about what is going on, because if we allow few people to truncate what we fought for, then the promise made to Nigerians would not be fulfilled,” Ajomale said.

He noted that those trying to undermine the leadership

of Tinubu in APC were not helping the country, saying he would advise those that belonged to this group to “leave Asiwaju alone and let him do what God has asked him to do for this country.”

Similarly, the deputy chairman of Lagos APC, Cardinal Omolaja Odunmbaku, said Tinubu’s supporters and political

supporters would resist any gang-up against their leader.

He said the South would stand by Tinubu irrespective of the gang-up against him, because they believed in him and his leadership qualities.

Also speaking, the Convener of walk, Babatunde Afonja said Tinubu remained the leader of APC.

Obaseki sworn in as Edo gov

PDP group vows to reclaim mandate Banji Aluko -Benin City MR Godwin Obaseki, elected on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), after the September 28 Edo governorship election, has been sworn in as the fifth governor of Edo State, succeeding Adams Oshiomhole, who bowed out after completing two terms of eight years.

Obaseki was sworn in by the Chief Judge of Edo State, Justice Cromwell Idahosa, at about 12:24 p.m., immediately after the chief judge had sworn in the deputy governor, Honourable Phillip Shaibu.

The event, which was held at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium, had in attendance leaders of the APC and notable Nigerians, including outgoing governor, Oshiomhole; his deputy, Pius Odubu, a former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon; Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki; National chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and

the Esogban of Benin, Chief David Edebiri.

APC governors, who attended the event included Governors Ibikunle Amosun, Ogun State; Simon Lalong, Plateau State; Nasir el-Rufai, Kaduna State; Akinwumi Ambode, Lagos State; Rochas Okorocha, Imo State; Atiku Bagudu, Kebbi State; Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto State and Abubakar Sanni Bello, Niger State.

Other notable Nigerians at the swearing-in were Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Tony Elumelu; Captain Hosa Okunbor; Hakeem Bello Osagie; APC deputy chairman South, Segun Oni and the APC governorship candidate in Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN. In his speech shortly after inspection of the traditional guard of honour, Governor Obaseki praised the contributions of his predecessing, Oshiomhole, pointing out that “major socio-economic developments have been put in place by you, Comrade Oshiomhole, we need to

strengthen and expand infrastructure that has been established, so that we can have solid foundation to build the new Edo State.”

He restated his commitment to the creation of 200,000 jobs in the next four years by focusing on Edo State’s comparative advantage in agriculture, agric-business, commerce, industrialisation, entrepreneurship, technical and vocational skills.

He promised to fill the vacancies in the civil service and optimise job creation potential, adding that agriculture would be the focus of his socio-economic programme and that he would move Edo out of its current subsistence farming to commercial farming.

Meanwhile, as Obaseki was being sworn in, some members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State gathered at another part of Benin to underline their commitment to recover what they described as their stolen mandate by launching a

group called the Mandate Recovery Group.

Chief convener of the group, Mr Daniel OsaOgbegie, in his speech during the launch, said the Mandate group was not to serve as a rival group to the PDP, but another platform to galvanise Edo people to contribute their quota towards recovering the mandate given to PDP’s governorship candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

He said, “we must give hope to our people, who daily toil for this mandate. We must make them see that our leader and torchbearer, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, is doing his utmost to fight for them and reclaim the mandate via every legal means.

“As part of recovering this mandate, it is pertinent to also monitor government that is being inaugurated today at the Ogbemudia Stadium; not to give them legitimacy but to hold them to account throughout the short period they will superintendent over the affairs of the state.”

Sunday Tribune

no arrest anybody.

Dem come with two gunboats.

One of their boats come get problem.

“They manage push the boat commot.

The women go meet them say why dem dey disturb we peace?

Soldiers come say dem no fit enter the village again?

“The women come dey gban Ogele (protest rally). Na im the soldiers come commot for Oporoza,” the teenager disclosed.

Meanwhile, acting secretary of the Gbaramatu Traditional Council, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, while speaking with Sunday Tribune on Saturday afternoon, expressed worries that nobody seemed to be doing anything about the incessant invasions and harassment of the Ijaw people in the kingdom.

“We’re worried that in spite of the peace initiative with the Federal Government, troops are still invading our communities, harassing and intimidating our people who have committed no offence.

“Our people are getting fed up and may react soon.

They live in perpetual fear and trepidation. I don’t know where we’re going.

We should not be tagged as criminals so that we don’t end up as one,” he warned.

Gbenekama called on the Delta State government, local and multinational oil companies to prevail on the Federal Government to stop the injustice meted out to the people of the kingdom.

According to him, what will put paid to attacks to oil and gas facilities in the region is for the government to partner host communities in safeguarding them, insisting that the military could not do the job alone.

Meanwhile, Commander of Sector 1, Joint Task Force (JTF) code-named Operation Delta Safe, Colonel Alhassan Grema has denied the report that his troops had invaded Oporoza in Gbaramatu Kingdom of Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

Col. Grema told Sunday Tribune in a text message that his men did not invade the community, but were only there on cordon and search operation based on intelligence report.

“No invasion. It was a simple cordon and search operation based on intelligence. Thanks,” Col. Grema stated.

news We are not afraid to die, Shiites tell Kaduna govt 5

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UNDREDS of members of the Shiite Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) on Saturday, defied the ban place on them by the Kaduna State and staged a protest in the state capital.

Members of the Islam sect marched through the town demanding the release of their spiritual leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and boasting they were not afraid of death, apparently referring to the recent ordeal they suffered at the hands of military.

“We are not afraid of anybody. All we are asking is for the government to release our leader. I am not afraid of death,” one of the protesters, a female, who did not give her name said, echoing the mood of other protesters.

During the protests, members of the sect, who chanted and sang the praise of their leader, insisted they were not deterred by the treatment meted out to them and would continue to demand the release of their leader and pursue their religious belief.

In a similar report by the Premium Times, the protesters were said to have closed down the popular Ahmadu Bello way causing heavy traffic on the road.

The protesters, it was said, passed through the busy Gumi market, singing the praise of Mr ElZakzaky and calling on the government to release him from detention.

“We are not terrorists.

We are Nigerians. Free our leader, free El-Zakzaky,” they said.

Aftermath the deadly confrontation between the Shiites and military, leader of the sect, El-Zakzaky, was arrested and detained in December without trial by the government. Over 300 of his followers were reportedly killed in a military operation against the sect in Kaduna.

The clampdown by the military was condemned by rights groups with many of them calling for investigation and sanctioning of

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the soldiers involved in the killings.

But the Nigerian Army, in its defence, had claimed that members of the sect had planned to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff,

Tukur Buratai, who was returning from an official engagement. The military claimed it acted in selfdefence, but the Shiites had continued to deny the claim that it was the ag-

OYO State Police Command has set machinery in motion to hunt for the kidnappers of a priest of the Methodist Church, The Reverend Dr Biodun Ogunbekun, who was kidnapped on Thursday, by five gunmen in Ibadan.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Adekunle

in the incident, especially those who gave the order for the killing be prosecuted.

In addition, the panel recommended that IMN be banned. The Kaduna government in carrying out

the recommendation has banned Shiites in the state.

The police, who were on hand to ensure that the protest did not degenerated into chaos, did not disrupt the march.

El-rufai donates N100m for rebuilding of churches, mosques in Southern Kaduna Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna

Scene of an accident involving a truck, a tricycle and three other vehicles at New Garage, Ibadan, Oyo State, on Saturday.

PHOTO: TOMMY ADEGBITE

5 killed, scores wounded in Ibadan trailer accident

By Dare Adekanmbi NO fewer than five people were killed in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Saturday, as a low-bed truck carrying a container crushed a micra car, a tricycle and others, leaving scores of people critically injured.

The accident, which occurred at New Garage area of Oluyole Local Government Area of the state at about 7:00 p.m., was said to have been caused by failure of the brake of the truck with the registration number Lagos XV 59 KSF. An eye witness said the micra car was loaded with passengers and was about moving when the truck rammed into it, along with the tricycle which was al-

ready trapped in its front.

When Sunday Tribune got to the scene, the truck’s head was seen at the entrance of one of the lock-up shops beside AlaoAkala road, with part of the crushed tricycle lying under it.

One of those killed, Sunday Tribune was told by an eye witness, was a woman selling hot drinks in front of the shop.

The woman’s severed head was sighted smashed under the truck, while part of her left foot with the five toes intact was seen in one of the sandals she was wearing before the tragedy struck.

It was gathered that three people who rushed into the shop as well as the occu-

Oyo police command hunts for Methodist pastor’s kidnappers

By Tunde Ogunesan

gressor in the incident.

A panel of inquiry set up by the Kaduna State government confirmed that many Shiites were indeed killed, recommending that the soldiers implicated

Sunday Tribune

Ajisebutu made this known in a statement made available to Sunday Tribune, on Saturday afternoon.

It will be recalled that Ogunbekun, of the Methodist Church Nigeria, Akobo-Ojurin, Diocese of Agodi, was kidnapped at about 7.00 p.m. at his farm at Kufi Area, along Olorunda-Aba road.

According to Ajisebutu,

the Commissioner of Police, Samuel Adegbuyi has directed that the cleric be rescued unhurt.

He said, “The Command is making frantic efforts to rescue him alive and arrest the culprits.

“The Commissioner of Police, Samuel Adegbuyi, has set in motion necessary machinery to ensure this objective is achieved.”

pants of the shop escaped, but were said to be in serious shock.

The driver, an eye witness said, was shouting ‘brake failure’ before he rammed the truck into the shop.

The Divisional Police Officer of Orita Divisional Police Headquarters, Olu Akinmoladun and his men cordoned off the scene to prevent hoodlums from coming close and looting victims’ belongings.

The bodies of casualties were said to have been deposited at the mortuary in Adeoyo Hospital, while the injured were said to be receiving treatment at the hospital.

Efforts to get the Police Public Relations Officer, Adekunle Ajisebutu to confirm the incident did not succeed as telephone calls put to his line were not answered, just as he did not respond to a text message sent.

KADUNA State government has donated N100 million to support the rebuilding of destroyed churches and mosques in the Southern Kaduna as part of efforts to restore peace in the area.

Announcing the donation during the unveiling of public apology billboard by five communities from Jama’a, Kachia, Kaura, Sanga and Zangon Kataf for the return of permanent peace in the area, Governor Nasir El-rufai, said his government had drafted a bill to set up the Kaduna State Peace Commission in fulfillment of the promises he made in 2015.

The governor added that, the Commission will enable inclusion of all citizens on plans for peaceful co-existence of the peoples that live in the state.

El-rufai, in his speech entitled said: “In recognition of the vital importance of showing concrete manifestations of peace, the government has decided to support civic efforts to rebuild damaged churches and mosques with a seed fund of N100 million.

The challenge of achieving peace and justice is a complex process that requires imagination, wide consultations, technical support, research and time.

Lagos-Ibadan highway ready soon —Fashola EXPANSION and rehabilitation works on the LagosIbadan highway would be completed this dry season, Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, said on Friday.

Fashola, who briefed the media in Lagos on his first year in office, said that the long bridge at the LagosOgun border on the road had to be shut because a lot of construction work was ongoing underneath it.

“Roads are depreciating assets that need constant maintenance and regulated usage,” he said, adding that the issue of overloaded trucks was being addressed. According to him, the ECOWAS sub-region is already looking into the issue of double-axle articu-

lated vehicles that transport more tonnage than most roads were built to accommodate.

Fashola also said that weighbridges would be reintroduced on Nigerian roads to arrest overloading.

He said, however, that warehouses would have to be built by the weighbridges to take in offloaded extra goods from arrested haulage vehicles.

The minister also said that the issue of reintroducing tollgates on roads would be decided by Nigerians, stressing that he had not forgotten his experience on this when he was the governor of Lagos State.

He said that privately built roads that were to repay investors through

tolling drew the ire of some Lagos residents and led to court cases.

Fashola said that the Federal Government was giving priority attention to roads that connected major cities as well as those that would ensure quick evacuation of farm products to the cities.

He said that with increased budgetary allocation to the sector, more would be done to ensure a smoother road network nationwide.

Nigeria has about 200,000 kilometers of road network, of which the Federal Government is credited with 18 per cent, the states 16 per cent, and the local governments 66 per cent of mostly earth roads.

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edited by Oluwatoyin Malik 0807 889 1950, 0811 695 4633 praiseboy01@gmail.com

How my £42,000 goods were stolen from UK warehouse —Businessman Olalekan Olabulo - Lagos

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Nigerian businessman, Benjamin Olowodola has narrated how his £42,000 worth of goods were stolen from a warehouse in London and urged the INTERPOL in Nigeria not to be deterred in their investigations of the theft.

Olowodola gave the account, while reacting to a petition to the Inspector General of Police and the Minister of Justice by the Human Rights Monitoring Agenda over alleged “Extortion and Harrassement” of a United Kingdom based businessman by the police at INTERPOL in Nigeria.

The businessman also stated that he was forced to report the matter to the INTERPOL in Nigeria, when he suspected an “irrefutable and clear evidence of connivance and intention “to defraud him.

Olowodola narrated that he gave the contract of delivering the goods in Nigeria to Oshramon Ventures through its owner, Owolabi Rahmon Yinusa, who was introduced to him by another Nigerian, simply identified as Bosun Badmos.

The businessman stated that: “he was introduced to me by Alhaji Bosun Badmos, who claimed that they had been friends in the United Kingdom for upwards of eighteen years.

He was the person that pleaded with me to give Oshramon Ventures Limited, represented by Owolabi,

the business of shipment of my goods: 530kva, 450kva, 27kva generators and other items to Nigeria.”

He continued that “an agreement was innocently entered into with Mr Owolabi of Oshramon

Ventures Limited to set machinery into motion for the shipment of the said goods to Nigeria.

“He at an agreed date provided the empty 40ft container on a flat bed trailer for the purpose of

loading the generators into the empty container for shipment to Nigeria.

He also insisted that “When the driver returned to the Eagle Generators

erators Limited) reported the matter at Birmingham Police Station. Owolabi did same at Strafford Police Station close to his office in the UK.

ASOHON award: Abia police honoured for fighting crime, assures of collaboration Olalekan Olabulo - Lagos

ABIA State police command has assured South-East zonal headquarters of Association of Orphanages and Home operators in Nigeria (ASOHON) of police collaboration to fight against child abuse and protect the rights of all vulnerable children in the state.

Commissioner of police, Leye Oyabade who gave the assurance while receiving an award from the association alongside other five senior officers in his command said police will continue to partner with relevant agencies to sustain peace and

Ibrahim Idris, Inspector General of Police

Limited, he found out that the container was missing and informed his boss, Mr Yinusa Owolabi of the development while Nadir (the owner of Eagle Gen-

progress of the state.

The commissioner of police who was represented

by DPO Umuahia, Superintendent of Police, Onyeke Udeviotu lauded the association for the initiative, as he promised efficient police partnership, otherwise known as community policing.

He said, he was not surprised by the association’s goodwill resolve from the South-East zone to honour the Nigerian Police, describing the Ndigbo as people known for their industry.

Oyebade urged members of the association not to re-

lent as the command will accord them the desired support to actualize their dreams.

Earlier the association’s Social Taskforce chairman, South-East, Akpuluonu Godson Edobor said they are at the command to extend a hand of fellowship to partner with them in the area of combating the menace of child trafficking.

Edobor further informed the police of their intention and urged the press to assist ASOHON in that direction, aimed at protecting the rights of all vulnerable children in the South-East and Nigeria as a whole.

Police arrest bursar, driver, over disappearance of N3m in Delta Ebenezer Adurokiya - Warri

THE bursar and driver of Government College, Ughelli (GCU) have been arrested by police operatives at Ughelli over the sudden disappearance of N3 million they had withdrawn from a bank.

Crime Reports gathered that both the bursar, identified as Sando Richard and the driver, Aaron Isokari, were arrested following investigations sur-

rounding the incident.

The N3 million is said to belong to the school.

A senior official attached to the Ughelli “A” Division Police Station said the duo were conveying the money from the new generation bank in a Hilux van when they stopped on the way and engaged a man in a Lexus jeep in a brawl.

The two suspects returned to the school and narrated that the money was carted away from them at gunpoint

by armed robbers at Oduaran Street junction, Ughelli.

However, the police source said: “Contrary to reports that the staff were robbed at gunpoint at Oduaran street junction by Post Office Road, Ughelli, the said N3 million mysteriously disappeared following an alleged altercation between the GCU staff and the driver of a Lexus Jeep who was said to have hit the white Hilux pick-up conveying the staff who had gone to

a new generation bank to withdraw the money.

“When the Lexus Jeep hit the school’s pick-up, the staff came down and engaged the driver of the jeep in an argument, only for them to return to the vehicle to realise that the money has disappeared.”

Meanwhile, principal of the school, Mr Godspower Odenema, who confirmed the arrest of the staff over the incident, said the school authority reported the matter

to the police, hence the arrest.

“As a result of the incident, we reported the case to the police and they arrested the bursar and driver for questioning on the matter,” he disclosed.

When contacted, Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, Mr Ibrahim Zanna said he was yet to be briefed.

His promise to call back to confirm the incident did not materialise as of the time of filing this report.

1 feared dead, 2 injured as Aladja, Isaba youths clash in Delta Ebenezer Adurokiya - Warri

A youth was, on Thursday, feared dead during a communal clash between youths of Aladja and Isaba communities in Delta State.

The deceased is said to be an Aladja youth, while the seriously-wounded ones were said to be Isaba youths.

Metro gathered that the fresh communal war was al-

legedly caused by a dispute over a piece of land and the fierce clash battleground was the Udu express in Udu Local Government Area.

The body of the deceased youth has reportedly been deposited in a mortuary in Warri.

Meanwhile, Area Commander of the Delta state police command, ACP Mohammed Muazu confirmed to Metro that a life

was lost in the clash.

He, however, said the imbroglio began when some Aladja youths waylaid some Ijaw youths who were ferrying illegal oil bunkering products to a destination.

Muazu said: “our boys are there, the 2IC Area Commander is very much on ground. The men of the Battalion are also on ground there; we have been

able to calm the situation down. However, one person is said to have lost his life; he is Sunday Obruche and one person said to be missing as well. But the two people; the one that was said to be missing and the one shot and killed, are both from Ayama. Ayama is under Aladja. The problem is between Ayama and Isaba. Isaba is an Ijaw faction under Ogbe-Ijoh.

‘’The problem, as I gathered it, the Ijaw people were coming with a boat containing bunkering products, so the Ayama people said they should stop passing through their community. They used a canoe to go confront them and according to information, the Ijaw people used a speedboat to capsize the canoe, that was why one person went missing.

‘’When the news went round, the Ayama people, that is the Urhobo people, gathered themselves to attack the speedboat and the people carrying the bunkering products. The Ijaw people also re-enforced themselves and came with arms, it was in this process that they shot the Ayama boy, this Sunday Obruche and he died instantly because he was shot on the chest.”

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Nigeria yet to have the right leader — Fayose

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OVERNOR, Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has said that the nation is yet to have the right leadership to take it to the promised land, just as he took a swipe at the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) saying that the party was found on deceit.

“If you are in PDP, you are a pen robber, but if you gate-crash into APC, you become a saint automatically.

Within one and half years, the APC government has grounded the economy. Unfortunately, Muhammadu Buhari cannot find solution to hunger, unemployment, depressed economy and insecurity in the country.

“Nigerians should brace up to change the change because the right leader, the right president, is yet to come. What we have now is an aberration,” the governor asserted.

Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Idowu Adelusi, the governor said his return to power was beyond human comprehension, adding that the “stone which was rejected by the builder had became a strong pillar for the house.”

Governor Fayose who turns 56 on Tuesday, while addressing members of the Ekiti State House of Assembly at the Government House in Ado Ekiti on Friday, said though his road had been bumpy, but because he was a man of destiny, he had never lost any battle.

“I wasn’t born with sliver spoon, but with a wood in my mouth. My struggles in life, founded on truth, hard work and firm belief in God, have landed me where I am today.

“I remember God telling me never to avenge, but to do good to all men. In doing so lies my victory and progress.”

Governor Fayose, who went down memory lane

about the conspiracy of 2006 against him by the then members of the state House of Assembly which saw to his exit from the seat of power by an impeachment, was later dismissed as

illegitimate by the Supreme Court.

Speaking about his performance in two years in office, Fayose said he had a pact with Ekiti people to transform the state, adding that

he had ideas up his sleeves but he is being hampered by time and finance.

However, the governor promised to complete the Ado Ekiti flyover project King’s Market, Judiciary

building, new Governor’s Office, Ikere - Ado road dualised and other projects going on at the local governments. He urged Ekiti people to continue to support him and ignore the lies.

Lekki refinery’ll eliminate over dependence on oil importation —Dangote Kola Oyelere - Kano THE management of Aliyu Dangote Group of Companies has assured Nigerians that by the time the Lekki refinery comes up on stream in 2019, it would eliminate over dependence on oil importation into the country.

Disclosing this in Kano State, the Executive Director, Stakeholders Management and Corporate Communications, Dangote Group of Companies, Mr Mansur Ahmed, during a media parley on Saturday at Royal Tropicana Hotel, said the refinery would produce about 650,000 barrels per day, adding that this would reduce huge amount of foreign exchange spent on fuel importation.

Ahmed disclosed that the company was determined to make sure that the refinery attained a remarkable standard when it comes to oil production in the world.

The company will service the country effectively, as well as export the product to Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Ghana and other countries.

He disclosed that government is making plan to reduce importation of sugar into the county, while the company has made efforts to boost sugar production

by making sure that farmers engage more in sugar cane production.

Ahmed said Dangote has

secured the assistance of about 800 farmers in Jigawa State for sugar cane production promising that

there is a plan to increase the members to 2000.

Also on the production, of rice , the director noted

that there is an expectation that about 150, 000 hectare of land would be achieved in some states.

Two lawyers walk out on Ondo CJ over bias in land dispute Hakeem Gbadamosi - Akure

TWO lawyers on Friday staged a walk out of a court presided over by the Ondo State Chief Judge, Justice Olasehinde Kumuyi, alleging bias in a land tussle brought before the court.

The lawyers, Chief Dapo Agbede and Mr Morakinyo Ogele, said they walked out of the court following the refusal of Justice Kumuyi to allow counsel to the claimant and applicant, Ogele, to have access to the record of proceeding of the court Ogele, who appeared in suit no Ak/173/2012 in his motion on notice, asked the court to allow him have access to the record of proceeding in the court, having been recently briefed in the case.

Ogele said this would allow him to study the case and also enable him to give proper representation to his client.

In his motion dated and filed on November 10, Ogele asked for an order before the court, compelling the Registrar of the court to produce the certified true copy of the record of proceedings in the case to the new counsel retained by the claimants.

In an affidavit by Ogele in

support of the motion, he explained that the case was being handled by Mr Wale Omotoso who decided to withdraw from the case due to paucity of fund to offset his professional fees by the family. However, the family contacted Ogele who agreed to represent the family in the court as new counsel in the case, but said all efforts to get the case file of the

Olokunjuwon family on the land tussle from the court officials was not successful.

However, the counsel to the second, third and fourth defendants, Messrs Adetunji Oso and Ola Olawale, said the court should use its discretion in granting the request.

In his ruling, Justice Kumuyi refused to grant Ogele and Agbede’s request to ac-

cess the record of proceedings while the two lawyers told the judge that they would not be able to proceed with the case because the refusal of the application would prevent their clients from getting fair hearing.

The two lawyers stormed out of the courtroom with their clients leaving the judge with only few of the defendants.

Rape: Police arrest 22-year old man in Niger Adelowo Oladipo - Minna THE Police in Niger State has arrested Lucky John, 22-year old, at Madallah, in Suleja Local Government of the state, over rape of a two and a half years old girl whose names were withheld.

The suspect was arrested on Thursday following a complaint to the police by the mother of the victim that her daughter had been defiled.

Sunday Tribune gathered that in the early hours of Thursday, the complainant had handed over the little girl to her neighbour, a female, to look after the girl

with a promise to pick her up on her return from work in the evening.

She took the baby home but was shocked to find blood stains on her private parts when she was about to bath her.

A police source at the State Criminals Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) Police Headquarters Minna, told our reporter that when the aggrieved mother prodded her daughter the little girl pointed at Lucky John as being responsible said.

The source that the suspect was promptly arrested by the police at Madallah Divisional Headquarters, Suleja

Local Government.

Upon interrogation, the suspect was said to have confessed to the crime, while blaming the devil as responsible for his action.

He pleaded for leniency by the police.

The Police Public Relations Officer Niger State Police Command, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the incident, adding that the victim had been taken to the Hospital for medical examination.

According to Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent of Police(DSP) the suspected rapist is still in Police custody, while further investigation of the case is still continuing by the police.

special treat

Steps to take before buying selling land, buildings

By Dare Adekanmbi

IN the face of the current global economic downturn, people scout for safe investments where they can put their money. Investment in the stocks of blue chips used to be considered a safe business deal. But the volatility of the stock markets is making many investors not to put all their eggs in the stock basket.

Buying or selling buildings or landed property is thus seen by many as a core area of investment because of its relatively high security of investment worldwide. A research puts the average increase in property investment in comparison to stock investment at 11.4 per cent annually in Australia.

“When you factor in the return and risk associated with buying property and shares, property wins hands down. Shares have [marginally] higher capital growth, but the difference in risk is huge. The risk is measured in variation in returns and capital growth (or loss) on shares can range from +40 per cent in a year to -40 per cent in a

week! You don’t get that sort of variation in property, hence it is considered a safer investment,” opines a property investor and don, Peter Koulizos.

But how easy is it buying properties or selling them in Nigeria? Experts say there are precautionary steps prospective buyers/sellers should take to guarantee their dealings.

These steps, as outlined by Estate experts on nigeriapropertycentre.com, are stated below: Understand the nature of the property Investors want to get the best value for their money. And this often translates to the best return on their investments. With this in mind, you want to evaluate the potential growth in investment in a particular area before you throw your hard earned money at it. Growth range is between five per cent30 per cent. Why get less when you can get more? Choose your investment location wisely.

Research who is selling Always keep the following questions in mind: “Who is the owner of the property?”

“Who is selling the property? Is it the owner, the owner’s wife, son, daughter, or someone else?” “Whose name appears in the documents? Is it the current owner or the previous owner?” “What liabilities currently exist on the property?”

Verify the true owner Before you buy a plot of land or a completed building, be sure to conduct what is called a “search” on the property. This is the process of verifying from the state government if the property in question is within government acquired properties or not and whether there are any pending litigation or other issues on the property. The bureau of lands or related government agency in most states handles such matter.

Make payment and collate the right

documentation Pay the property amount to the property owner, then collect the (a) purchase receipt (b) the contract of sales (c) the building plan (d) originals of other relevant documents in possession of the previous owner Document new purchase with government It’s important to do this step because it legally makes you the new owner in the eyes of the law. If the property already has a C of O (Certificate of Occupancy), you’ve got governor’s consent for it, which is great. If it does not, then you start processing your C of O as soon as possible.

Appoint an estate agent to manage the property You safeguard your investment when you do this especially if you live outside Lagos or any cities in Nigeria where the properties are located or overseas. Folks who have invested big time in Lagos’ real estate have found that it has been one of the wisest decisions they made in their lifetime.

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

foreignfeature How Eiye, Black Axe cult groups run prostitution rings in Italy, Spain

W

HEN Italian prosecutor Lina Trovato, first came across a sex trafficking suspect called “Mummy”, she sensed she was onto something especially sinister. The code name had appeared several times in wiretapped conversations between Nigerian gang members in Italy and their apparently female boss back in the West African state.

“If one of the (trafficked sex worker) girls went astray, the agents in Italy always informed ‘Mummy’ - otherwise known as the Queen Bee of Nigerian trafficking - so she could keep them in line,” Trovato told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Several months of investigation led police to swoop in and arrest six people in the Italian cities of Rome, Genoa and Catania, she said. The six are awaiting trial.

Nigerian crime gangs have proliferated in Italy, controlling an extensive network of prostitutes and ordering them “on demand” from Nigeria, Italian police and prosecutors say, but now, the Nigerian gangs, who have been active in Italy for more than a decade, are taking on increasingly violent tactics, including knife crime and even forging close relations with notorious mafia groups, the Cosa Nostra and the Camorra, law enforcement agencies in Italy say.

The overlap with home-grown organised crime groups is troubling for police because the Italian mafia dominate the economies in their regions, often with the help of corrupt or complacent administrators, and they have spread their tentacles to northern Italy. At least 16 Nigerians have been arrested on trafficking offences since the start of 2016 in the Catania jurisdiction in Sicily, up from around 10 the previous year.

Around 12,000 Nigerian women arrived in Italy by sea in 2015 and 2016, data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) shows - a six-fold increase on the previous two years.

Almost 80 percent of the young women are victims of trafficking, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), placing law enforcement agencies under pressure to uproot expanding Nigerian criminal networks, lawyers say.

Mafia crimes As the number of Nigerian trafficking victims rises, Italian prosecutors - lawyers who gather evidence before presenting it in court - are finding more and more of their time taken up with unpicking Nigeria’s criminal networks. Nigerian prostitutes frequently end up working as recruiters or “madams” for new arrivals from Africa, prosecutors say.

These former sex workers also help with the logistics of slavery, driving trafficking victims to the cities where they become prostitutes, Trovato said. But trends are changing. Armed robberies, murders and drug-related crime have spread south to the Sicilian city of Palermo from larger Nigerian communities in the northern cities of Turin and Castel Volturno, justice officials say.

“It is a compact community, in which there are lots of people who practice crime,” said Leonardo Agueci, prosecutor in Palermo’s justice department.

Earlier in 2016, the boss of notorious Nigerian criminal organisation Black Axe was sentenced to 12 years in jail after a number of Nigerian men were brutally attacked in Palermo.

The incident happened late one night in January 2014 in Palermo’s Ballaro street market, where police later found the victims with gashed foreheads.

“It was the first time a Palermo court has convicted a

Nigerian on mafia-related crimes,” said Gaspare Spedale, another prosecutor in the Sicilian city.

Police fear the relatively small-time crimes committed by members of the Nigerian gangs in Palermo might become more serious in a city famous for Italy’s most storied mafia organisation, the Cosa Nostra, Agueci said.

For now, the prosecutors said there was no evidence mafia were running the Nigerian sex trafficking network from Palermo, but it could have connections with organised crime gangs on mainland Italy.

Nigerian Omerta In Palermo’s vibrant Ballaro market, Nigerian shopkeepers and customers brushed shoulders with Sicilian fruit stallholders touting bright pink pomegranates and blood-red tomatoes. Nigerian women, loading their baskets with sardines and olives, refused to answer questions about the quality of life in Palermo when they were approached by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

At night, a few hundred metres away, West African women in short-cut dresses plied their trade in dimly lit streets alongside the port. Many work for pimps who remain out of sight, local campaigners say. But the killing in 2011 of one Nigerian trafficking victim still strikes fear in the community.

“Favour” Nike Adekune was murdered in Palermo’s historic centre in a crime that shocked the 500-strong Nigerian community, according to Nino Rocca, a local rights activist.

Adekune - from Benin City in Nigeria’s southern Edo state - had been working as a sex worker to pay off debts to her pimps, Rocca said. After one of Adekune’s clients was convicted of her murder, something mysterious happened to her body, he said.

“When the corpse was prepared for burial (months after her death), we noticed that only a few bones remained.

We do not know why,” Rocca told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “We have no idea if the mafia or Nigerian (gangs) stole the body.”

But he added that some members of the Nigerian community suspected the local mafia were involved.

SPANISH PROBLEM TOO The problem is not isolated to Italy. The authorities in parts of Spain have also been grappling with Nigerian sex trafficking rings.

In Catalonia, 99 percent of prostitution is controlled by organised crime, much of it by a dominant Nigerian crime group known as the Supreme Eiye Confraternity (SEC) or Air Lords.

It’s a criminal network comparable with the mafioso in Chicago in the 1930s, said Xavi Cortes, chief of the central unit of human trafficking at the Mossos d’Esquadra, the Catalan regional police force.

“Every single Nigerian knows who they are,” Cortes said in an interview. “If you ask a Nigerian boy, he will know who an Eiye is.”

But many women who are trafficked to Spain end up working as “madams”, who are essentially pimps who control prostitutes on the streets of Barcelona, Cortes said.

The Mossos’s operations have led to the jailing of 25 trafficking gang members in the Barcelona region, with a further 13 currently under a European arrest order because they are abroad, Cortes said.

“Experience tells me that, finally, all the traffickers will find new routes and new ways. It is impossible to stop this phenomenon,” the Catalan police chief said.

(Reporting By Tom Esslemont of Thomson Reuters)

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Diabetes: Silent killer on the prowl

How many people dig their graves with their mouths As the world marks yet another year of drawing awareness to diabetes, a disease that has killed millions of people and is still wreaking havoc TADE MAKINDE and NEWTON RAY UKWUOMA look at how the disease can be prevented and managed.

I

N the 80s, a popular bottling company shocked Nigerians with the first in the series of product promotions that reportedly ended up affecting Nigerians negatively. Back then, many who wanted to win free cars, houses, cash, T-Shirts, amongst other items, consumed many bottles of a brand of the company’s products, reportedly resulting in the rise of diabetic patients in the country.

Sometime in 1973, Mr E.A Adeyinka, whose favourite drink was Eggovin, drank two bottles of the product at a social gathering in Ekiti. When he got back to Ibadan, he began to feel ill. He thought it was fever until a test revealed that his insulin level had shot up. He was told he had diabetes.

Batode Akinola, told Sunday Tribune that his late father told him that his late mother’s great grandfather’s path to the farm was allegedly laced with juju in the 20s and since then, the man’s children, grandchildren have been diabetic. “Diabetes killed my mother 15 years ago. Since I am told it is hereditary I have made it a point of duty to always check my blood sugar level every three months. I have told my siblings to do same because we watched our mother suffer a lot, just as our father spent his entire life savings and shares to treat her to no avail,” he told Sunday Tribune.

But some people still don’t believe some types of food and/or drinks kill steathily through diabetes.

Mr Samson Aduloju, who spent his entire life smoking and drinking all the brands of beer he could find, died seven years ago at the age of 84. He died in his sleep.

“I don’t understand all this noise about diabetes killing those who drink soft products and beer, when my father was not killed by cancer or diabetes,” Gboyaga Aduloju responded.

A Lagos medical doctor, Dr Richard Ajayi, cannot live a day without two pieces of meat or chicken pie and a bottle of Coke. “I am 77 years now and I don’t have diabetes,” he said.

Tomorrow is World Diabetes Day. It is a day often used to draw attention to patients worldwide and to enlighten others on what could be done to avoid falling victim of the disease.

Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is too high, because the body cannot use it properly.

This is because the pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin, or not enough insulin, to help glucose enter the body’s cells – or the insulin that is produced does not

work properly (known as insulin resistance). Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas that allows glucose to enter the body’s cells, where it is used as fuel for energy so we can work, play and generally live our lives. It is vital for life.

If one has diabetes, one’s body cannot make proper use of this glucose so it builds up in the blood and can’t be used as fuel.

Except for college study of Biology where diabetes is treated in testbooks, it was not a popular disease until it suddenly broke out after the above-mentioned promotion efforts in the 80s as many other bottling and brewing companies joined in promoting their products among customers.

So, what is it about this silent killerdisease that is affecting about a third of the world and many still have different views of it?

Diabetes, according to Belgium-trained Dr Victor Adeyefa, is simply the loss of sugar in the body. “Bottling, brewing products and some types of food in the tropical regions, in fact, every where in the world, end up in the body as sugar.

In Nigeria, most of the foods we have also end up in sugar. Eba, Iyan, Fufu, Yam, Potato, etc, all gets turned into sugar in the body. Even milk from breasts.

“In the body, sugar provides energy for many human activities such as running, walking, engaging in strainous activities, among others. Understanding what it is and how it can be managed is key to the solution to diabetes. If it is as deadly as being said, more than half of the world would be dead by now,” he said.

The former UCH and Teju Memorial Hospital specialist said “the common types of sugars are glucose (all types of foods are converted into glucose), lactose (got from milk) and sucrose (from fruits).

“When sugar is not absorbed into the bloodstream to provide us with the much needed energy, it is lost through urine.

The Yoruba people call it Atogbe. The sugar that is needed is passed out and wasted. Without sugar, people will faint or even go into coma. Loss of sugar through urination also leaves one very lean. Most sufferers’ lips are unusually dry and they want to drink water.

“The easiest and surest way to know if one is diabetic is to urinate on the ground and go back there after about an hour. If you see ants on that spot or around it, that is a sure sign of diabetes. Again, Fasting or random sampling blood sugar tests can also

be conducted at medical laboratories. You can also taste your urine to know if you have it or not,’ he said.

“Diabetes is caused by the malfunctioning of the pancrease. This can be set on by trauma to the organ, caused by sudden punch to the stomach or accident that affects the stomach. Any sudden impact on pancreas can cause it to malfunction. It is not the consumption of soft drinks or beer or carbonhydrates as many say. Why people blame it on these products is because they are always converted into sugar at the end of the day. But if truly some soft drinks that claim to be sugar free are really free, then its okay to take them. But all soft drinks or beers or stout end up in sugar,” added Dr Ajayi.

Dr Adeyefa said there should be a minimum level-70mg-100mg and 110-150mg

of sugar in the body. “Anything above that is not good. That means something is Continues

pg 11

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

‘Many drop dead and we say it is spiritual attack that killed the person’

The Association of Diabetes testing people at Central Mosque, Oba’Ba, Ibadan on Frida. Photo: Alolade-Ganiyu

Continued from

pg 10

wrong. But what do we eat that’s not going to end in sugar? Even abroad, their foods are converted into sugar. is it their potatoes, rice, bread? That is why it is advised that less of carbohydrates should be eaten, complemented with protein in fish, meat, eggs, soy beans or beans.”

Asked why most patients find it hard to refrain from eating harmful foods, Adeyefa blamed it on habit formation. “Like “As I said, most of our foods are carbohydrate. Many have learned to eat mostly rice, Eba, Iyan and so on. If you are now told to stop eating any of these, it becomes a problem. That is why it is suggested that we should eat small and sparingly. Many hospitals have a list of foods to eat and those to stay away from. You do that, you take your drugs, you will live long.’

On why diabetics’ wounds don’t heal, he said that what should help in healing is urinated. “Pancrease produces Insulin, Insulin converts glucose into body use.

Instead of the sugar to go into the body, it is urinated. What should help the blood to clot has been pissed away. The sufferer goes to toilet 5,6,7 or more times overnight. That’s why before any operation is carried out on anybody, urine test is the first thing to be done. If the patient is diabetic, the operation is immediately postponed and the diabetes is treated.

Mr Adeyinka, now 83 years, has been managing diabetes for 43 years. He stopped drinking Eggovin and any brand of soft drink and still drives, washes car, mows gardens, treks, engage in other forms of exercises. “I don’t live a sedentary life and will not advise anyone to ,because it can cause diabetes. Our forefathers trekked a lot. Instead of urinating the sugar in their bodies away, they sweated it out. That way, the quantity of sugar needed is absorbed in their body.

“Many drop dead and we say it is ‘aiye’ that killed the person. It was not until I was confirmed diabetic that I believed it had nothing to do with any spiritual attack. I don’t advise that people should use traditional drugs or herbs because it is immeasurable. People just drink and drink, eventually damaging their kidneys and pancrease ending up in renal failure.

It is caused by our lifestyle. For me, I have been obedient to the rules and that is eat less, drink anything that is not water less and excercise more.”

Adeyinka, the Oyo State chairman of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria, also said that many suffer the ailment, but they don’t know it. In Ibadan where the association has engaged in a month-long activities marking the World Diabetes Day, random tests conducted on many market women at Bodija, Oja Oba, and others showed that, many had it and they didnt know. Last year, a two-year-old girl had it. That’s how bad it has got.” As regards the two-year-old girl, Dr Ajayi said she would have contracted it from her mother during pregnancy.

Adeyinka, who also prides himself on not having had any member amputated disclosed that, in many teaching hospitals, you have many people whose legs or arms have been cut. This does not have to be if people are obedient.

“There are four stages of diabetes. The Type 1 and 2 can only be handled by careful management of the disease. Pregnant women and small children also are prone to diabetes, but that can be dealt with without much regulations. All said, awareness is what can save anyone suffering diabetes, because it’s all about what we eat.”

There is, however, a snag. His association relies mostly on support from individuals and private organisations. “Governments have not helped us much. A governor in the past instructed that the association should be given N500,000 annually to organise transportation, feeding and other logistics for awareness programmes on the dangers of careless lifestyles that could result in diabetes. The official in charge of the ministry said we should sign a paper that we have collected the money, but nothing was given us till he was sent packing from government house.

“Another governor approved N1.8m.

Till date, we have not been given anything. Over 2 million people have diabetes in Oyo State alone and what we use to create awareness has been what Bovas Charitable Organisation, St Annes Church, Molete, Chapel of Resurrection, U.I, U.I Central Mosque, UCH Central Mosque and Arisekola Mosque have been helping us with. We have instructed our

national president, Alkali, to let the president know that duty on drugs should be removed so that they can be affordable for many. 10 mills of Insulin is N4,000 now.

It was N1,500 before. We need a rebate.

Symptoms?

Walking becomes more difficult Applying or wearing shoes becomes more difficult Tingling sensation or pins and needles Part or all of your foot becomes swollen Breaks in the skin, opens sores/blisters or a discharge Skin colour changes (redder, bluer, paler, blacker) over part or all of the foot Swelling in your feet and/or an unusual odour Part or all of your foot feels much hotter or colder than usual Hard skin (callus) Cramp in your calves Shiny smooth skin and/or losing hair on your feet and legs.

Management Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease, for which there is no known cure except

What do we eat that’s not going to end in sugar? Even abroad, their foods are converted into sugar.

Is it their potatoes, rice, bread? That is why its advised that less of carbonhydrates should be eaten, complemented with protein

in very specific situations. Management concentrates on keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal, without causing low blood sugar. This can usually be accomplished with a healthy diet, exercise, weight loss, and use of appropriate medications (insulin in the case of type 1 diabetes; oral medications, as well as possibly insulin, in type 2 diabetes).

The National President of Diabetic Association of Nigeria (DAN), Dr Alkali Mohammed, in reacting to the increasing cases of gangrene and lower limb amputation associated with most diabetic patients revealed that one out of every ten patient in Nigeria will experience such complications.

He said that the sensations in the leg and swollen feet were normal signs of diabetics arising from the concentration of sugar in the bone marrow. He, however, noted that these signs may not lead to gangrene, death of body tissues due to insufficient blood supply, or limb amputation.

“In most cases small injuries lead to bacterial infections which, when not properly treated, might aggravate to gangrene.

And in the late stage of gangrene, patients will be advised on amputation,” he said.

Also speaking on measures for preventing leg infection, Mohammed insisted on strict attention to sugar level management. He also highlighted the importance of early treatment of every infections and role of hospital in managing podiatric conditions.

“Diabetic patients must monitor their blood sugar in order to control complications that may arise due to leg infection.

They should inspect their feet regularly.

Every injury must be treated aggressively before it develops into gangrene.

“Also, care of the feet, podiatry, should receive a lot of attention in our hospitals.

This is an aspect of medicine that is not given prominence in Nigeria. We cannot have comprehensive diabetic clinics in Nigeria without podiatry.”

Similarly, Dr Felix Faniran, the former National President of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, emphasised on the education of patients across the nation on the basic precautions and information about diabetics.

He inferred that proper education on the lifestyle choices that are associated with diabetics will ensure that patients are not ignorant of complications such as leg infections.

“Diabetics is a situation of excess sugar in the blood. When diabetic patients get injured, the body is exposed to bacteria, which feed on the sugar in the blood. This makes it extremely difficult for wounds sustained by a diabetic patient to heal.

The feet is majorly the vulnerable member of the body when it comes to injuries so that diabetics most times have leg wounds which do not heal easily. This may lead to great health complications for the patients.

“And patients need to be educated especially about some basic precautions to be taken to ensure an effective control of the diseases.

“This is why we encourage patients to join the Diabetic Associations at both the state and national levels in order to get information about effective management and proper education about the disease.”

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

All eyes on govt as Kabba awaits new Obaro Three clans at loggerheads over stool

Aerial view of Kabba

Immediate past Obaro, Oba Michael Olabayo

Yinka Oladoyinbo - Lokoja

I

n 1985 when the people of Kabba, in the then Kwara State, wanted to install a new Obaro, the paramount ruler of Okunland, little did they know that the actions of their leaders would lead to the crisis that eventually caused disaffection among the princes of the town.

The kingmakers and the majority of the community were said to have settled for a candidate, who had almost completed the mandatory rites, but another section of the community was said to have endorsed a different candidate. The difference in the choice of both sides led to internal wrangling among the ruling houses. When the issue could not be amicably resolved, another candidate, Oba Michael Olabayo, was eventually approved by the then military governor, Muhammed Umaru, as the new Obaro.

Oba Olabayo is the immediate past Obaro who reigned from 1985 to 2016.

However, his ascension to the throne was met with protests as some sections of the community felt they had been cheated once again by not allowing them to present a candidate to the throne, which they believed they were entitled to by virtue of being a bona fide members of the royal family.

When the dust raised subsided, the state government, in its bid to find a lasting solution to the succession crisis, set up a commission of inquiry to look into the immediate and remote causes of the crisis, and to also make recommendations on how to prevent a recurrence. The move was meant to ensure that the three royal families, which have 13 ruling lineages, have equal opportunity to the throne.

Apart from the throne of Obaro, the commission also worked on the thrones of Obadofin and Obajemu, the other two chieftaincies that are also rotated among the lineages.

The royal families are Katu with three lineages, namely Atipa, Isoro and Abata. Another one is Okaba, which has six lineages that include Ilemila, Odogba, Idogba, Ilajo, Ugbo and Okere. The last of the royal families is Odolu with four lineages and they are Ogbagi, Ijemu, Irasi and Teko.

The three royal families consist of brothers that migrated from Ile-Ife to the present day Kabba, according to the history of the town, and the obaship of the town has been

rotated among them.

The commission of inquiry was said to have culminated into a 1986 edict No 6 as amended in 1989, and after the creation of Kogi State in 1991, became edict No 12 of 1995 which recommends a rotational principle for the ascension to the throne. The edict, which became operational with the ascension of Olabayo, states that the stool of the Obaro shall be rotated among the three royal families in the town.

Section 4 of the edict stipulates the order of rotation with Okaba, where Olabayo hailed from, as the first beneficiary after which it is expected to move to Odolu and later to Katu with the circle continuing in the same manner.

The demise of Olabayo earlier in the year has, however, opened another contest for the throne of the Yoruba speaking people of Kogi State, with lineages and princes making moves to ensure that their preferred candidate get endorsement from by the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, as the next Obaro of Kabba.

Going by the provisions of the edict, the contest is expected to be within the Odolu royal family, which has four lineages. Already, some contenders, a 46 years old business man, Chief Olobatoke Kayode Joseph, from Irasi lineage, and a retired custom officer, Chief Dele Awoniyi, from Ijemu lineage, have shown interests in the stool.

The Odolu ruling house was said to have commenced the processes of coming up with the choice of the family as the Oba Odolu, who is also the head of the house, has constituted a six-man screening committee, headed by Chief Lawrence Obawole, to look into the credentials and qualifications of the contestants.

After the screening, Joseph and Owoniyi scaled through and their names were sent to the Obadofin and Obajemu, who are the kingmakers of the town. But the Irasi lineage has objected to the participation of Owoniyi in the contest, saying he is not qualified to contest. According to the lineage, since the chieftaincy edict of the town has made it clear that no lineage could hold two positions at the same time, it is illegal and wrong for Owoniyi to aspire to become the Obaro because the Ijemu lineage, where he comes from, is presently occupying the throne of Oba of Odolu.

The spoke person of Irasi, Sunday Owoku, said based on the principle of rotation, the Odolu family, with four clans, has an Oba known as the Oba Odolu, and that the present occupant, Ajayi Osatuyi, is from Ijemu clan, the same clan where Owoniyi hails from. He argued that the development prevented him from participating in the process. Buttressing the point of the family, he said the present Obajemu, another third class Oba, is from Ogbagi clan of Odolu royal house, and therefore, candidate from Ogbagi could not contest the throne. He also said when the principle of rotation started, Teko clan from the same Odolu, benefited as they became the Obadofin then. Therefore, the clan cannot contest any available post now as they have had their chance.

Owoku said, “one clan cannot take two Odolus at the same time. This was done to prevent victimisation, oppression and tyranny. The only clan that has not benefited from the edict is Irasi. It was Irasi that prompted the rotational arrangements and the promulgation of the edict. This is because we were given the Oba in 1985, who had performed the necessary rites, before the military administrator took it away from us.

“We have waited for 35 years and this is the turn of Irasi. It is unfair and will amount to cheating for Irasi if we are not allowed to produce the next Obaro. The actions of the Ijemu negates the provisions of the edict as they have announced a new Obaro for themselves. We are pleading with the governor to save us from the plan to again hijack the Obaro from our family.

“Our contention is that Owoniyi was not supposed to contest because they (Ijemu) already have Oba Odolu. It is unfair and will amount to cheating for Irasi, the Ijemu clan has occupied the Obaro stool seven times, while we have only benefitted once. So, it is morally and constitutionally wrong for them to also aspire this time around.”

To further buttress their case, the Irasi clan has written to the state governor to state the issues surrounding the ascension, calling for the intervention of the governor to ensure that justice, fairness and equity prevail at the end of the day. According to the letter titled “Historical fact on tbe Obaro stool in Kabba-owe kingdom and two other Ololus (Obadofin and Obajemu), dated September

30, 2016, and addressed to the state governor, the clan gave a detailed information on the ascension to the throne and the need for the governor to use his good office to ensure fairness.

However, Owoniyi in his reaction to the position of the Irasi clan, said towns do not have ruling houses, but ruling groups, which he also agreed are three as mentioned by the Irasi. He said although it was the turn of the Odolu group to produce the next Obaro, the law of the land did not say one particular clan should produce the monarch out of the four clans in Odolu.

“They (Irasi) cannot say that they are to produce the Obaro. Anybody from Odolu can aspire to be the Obaro as long as he is qualified to do so. The present Obajemu was installed while his father was the Obadolu.

There is nothing like rotation among the four clans. What the edict say is that it is the turn of Odolu.

“There is no internal arrangement in Odolu. It is those that are afraid of competition that are proposing the arrangement.

The law talks of Odolu as a unit and it is the prerogative of the kingmakers to decide who the Obaro is. Any candidate that enjoys the support of two out of the three kingmakers becomes the Obaro. The law wants the best person to come from Odolu, it does not allow any clan to present a candidate.

“Our argument is that Okaba cannot produce the next Obaro and anybody contesting outside Odolu is not being fair. Anybody that says it is the turn of his clan is also wrong.”

But just as the clans in Odolu are slugging it out among themselves, the ilajo clan from Okaba, where the last oba came fro, are also laying claim to the throne. They also are saying that they have right to contest and produce the new Obaro for the town. The basis of their argument is that they are the bona fide owners of the town and it is only the Okaba that resides within the heart of the town that should be producing Oba in the Yoruba speaking areas of the confluence state.

The contention for the throne is assuming a two-way dimension because as the Ilajo clan wants to retain the stool in their clan, while there is internal squabble within the Odolu clan and it is only the state government that has the final say on who becomes the next Obaro of Kabba.

13 Continued from

T

13 November, 2016 last week

Northern States

HE very rapid development of Britain in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; of the USA in the nineteenth century; of Japan in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and of the U.S.S.R in this twentieth century, has been brought about primarily by the men of education, science and technology in these countries.

And the example of these highly developed countries, among others not mentioned here, are enough for us to reiterate categorically that at every stage of human development or advancement, the moving Innovations and Progress i11 Former Western Nigeria spirits are invariably the men of education, science, and technology.

The more of them a country has, the brighter are its prospects for rapid economic progress, for social justice, and for political stability.

It is generally agreed, and in any case the fact stares us in the face, that in spite of her enormous economic potentialities, Nigeria is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped countries of the world. She has been in this shameful position for very many years. We must not allow her to remain this way for much longer. All those who share the view that rapid development of Nigeria by Nigerians for Nigerians is a matter of urgent necessity must agree to do first things first, no matter to which political party they may belong. And that first thing is the full development and full employment of every Nigerian citizen.

Already, most parts of the country have lost twenty-five years in the matter of the development of our people. The reason is that many of our leaders and so-called intellectuals instead of girding their loins and doing likewise for our people in their respective areas of influence, have elected to spend a-quarter-of-a-century in deriding and jeering at a great scheme which was introduced here in 1955, and which has in the course of years produced many of the most brilliant and ablest Nigerian youths who abound today in the professions, in industry and commerce, in parastatal organisations, and in government.

I seize this auspicious occasion to appeal to those Nigerian leaders who may still be inclined that way, to desist NOW from playing a stupid and dangerous game which experience of twenty- five years has shown to be fit only for nation-wreckers, and for “the envious and asses that bray.”

We must always bear in mind that our constitution enjoins us, as and when practicable, to provide free education at all levels for our children and adolescents. I declare for the umpteenth time that all the good things of life provided for in our constitution are practicable now.

Those who foolishly and recklessly maintain that, compared with the other parts of the country the primary education given in the five UPN-controlled states is lacking in quality will do themselves a lot of good by looking at Pages 25 and 27 of THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE

Awo’s thoughts PATH TO NIGERIAN GREATNESS

On the campaign trail Innovations and progress in former Western Nigeria

WEST AFRICAN EXAMINATION COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 1977. At page 25 Division I Distinction

Passes

Percentage of those who sat

Western States

72

0.2

Eastern States

51

0.1

Northern States

37

0.25

1151

2.6

Eastern States

1087

3.1

Northern States

462

Division I Western States

Division II Western States

3545

8.8

Eastern States

3381

10.5

Northern States

969

5.7

Western States

13494

28.6

Eastern States

9060

27.6

Division III

3834

Sunday Tribune 22.4

The results for GCE (Advanced Level) Examination held in November-December 1976 showed that the Western States had 6492 passes which was 48.8 per cent of those who sat for the examination from those states; the Eastern states had 2500 passes which was 37.9 per cent of those who sat; while the Northern states had 1251 passes, that is 41 per cent of those who sat. At page 27 the results of GCE (Ordinary Level) Examinations held in May June 1975, may be tabulated as follows: It is crystal clear from these figures that the products of the Free Universal Primary Education who have been thoughtlessly described as “semiliterates” are indisputably in the lead in all the GCE (Ordinary Level) and GCE (Advanced Level) Examinations held in 1975 and 1976 respectively.

Alhaji Shagari, in the face of these and other facts at his disposal, should no longer drag his feet on the question of free education at all levels on the pretext that he wants something better than what obtains in the UPNcontrolled states. From the percentages of passes, there is no doubt that there is considerable room for improvement in all the states. But more so in the Northern states where the total number of candidates who passed these examinations is comparatively very, very low indeed.

The educational gap between the Western states and the Northern states is too wide for comfort. And it would be criminal for anyone who has the power and the means to close it, to allow it to widen further. It cannot be closed by trying to halt the forward march of the Western or Eastern states as someone had suggested some three or so years ago. For one thing, this is an impossible proposition. For another, such an attempt would be certain to provoke an emotional reaction of frightful proportions among those affected. The gap can only-therefore, be closed by embarking now, throughout the country, on Free and Compulsory Primary Education, Free and Compulsory Secondary Education, and Free Education at Post-Secondary levels. If we do this now, the existing educational gap will be permanently closed in fifteen to twenty yenrs’ time.

In closing, I wholeheartedly congratulate our five governors—Ajasin, Onabanjo, Jakande, Ige, and Alli; and with them I associate the names of Abubakar Rimi. Governor of Kano State, and Abdulkadir Balarabe, Governor of Kaduna State—for blazing these new beneficial educational trails of free education at all levels. Obstacles there must be in the path of every pilgrim or pioneer in search and pursuit of noble and humane objectives. I have no doubt that when they do appear, as they are bound to, we shall, with Almighty God on our side, overcome them even more gloriously than the pioneers of twenty years ago did in their time.

Concluded

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14

voxpop

13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

How would you react if you see the C.V. you submitted for a job recently being use to wrap the Suya?

An applicant’s C.V. is an important document. DEOLU ADEMUYIWA and FAUSIAT NASIR spoke to a crosssection of people on what their reactions would be, should they find their C.Vs being used to wrap suya.

ADEOLA KEHINDE I will feel bad about this if it ever happens. I would be angry at the company I submitted my C.V. to because they did not keep it very well.

EMMANUEL OJOYEMI I will go to the company and, ask them why they threw my C.V. out After that I will think of what to do.

AKPA CHIOMA I will go to the company and ask them why my C.V. was thrown out. If they did not intend to give me the job, they should at least keep my C.V. or return it to me instead of throwing it away I will make sure they apologise to me.

HALIMAT ARIYO I will ask the man where he got my C.V. from and whatsoever the response is will determine what I will do.

MUTIU ODEJOBI It is nothing, as far I am concerned I don’t have to go to the office and fight them I know I will feel bad about it, but I just have to forget about it.

CHRIS UGOCHUKU I will go to the company because for them to throw away my C.V, there must be a reason for it. I will also like to meet the person that interviewed me, to know what I did not get right and to know more about the company and the kind of people they employ. But giving out my C.V. to a suya seller is not right.

I will not blame the man because, the company ought to keep my C.V.

OGUNTOLA TOFUNMI I will feel bad; it is very odd for them to give out my C.V. But I will not do anything against the man. I will just go straight to the company and register my complaint.

OLORUNSHOLA STEPHEN There is nothing I can do to the man because the company is at fault. I just have to move on with my life.

ABOLAJI OLARENWAJU It is because they do not need it that is why they threw it out. It also means they don’t need me in the company.

OLANIYI OLAMIDE They ought to secuire my C.V. It is not a normal thing. If I ever see that, I would not be happy. I can’t lie to you; if I have money I can sue them. But in Nigeria, we do not know our rights. Assuming I have money, I can sue the company.

OGEH SUSAN I will laugh at first, because it is something I do not expect to happen. After that, I will ask the trader where he got it from and my reaction will be based on the response I get from him.

BABALOLA ADEMOLA There is nothing I can do. I may sue the company if we have a functioning law in our country, but we do not.

15

13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

I almost gave up on music —Ycee Oludemilade Martin Alejo otherwise known as Ycee is a Nigerian rapper and songwriter who broke into the music scene with his popular Jagaban song.

In less than two years of hitting the limelight, Ycee has established himself as one of Nigeria’s favourite musicians. He shares the story of his rise to fame in this interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO.

T

HE name Ycee has become quite popular among the Nigerian youth in the last two years, how do you feel about the volume of attention that you have been getting?

I feel very proud of what I have achieved and I sincerely appreciate the support from my fans both home and abroad. It has been a very interesting journey for me and I don’t wish to lose sleep over it. But above the attention, I will say Ycee is a young Nigerian, who is trying to do something for himself and also for his family regardless the situation around him. I am a young musician, and if you look around you very well you will discover that there is always a young artiste coming up somewhere, not just in the entertainment industry but in the other industries. You see young people doing great exploits in education, fashion designing and other fields. This should remind you that things are changing and youths are beginning to take their future in their hands. So, I think I am proud of the new movement of the youth that are recognising that it is not until you become an adult before you start thinking of what you want to do for yourself.

Continued on pg16

MTV strips Wizkid of ‘Best Africa Act’ award

What kept us together for 15 years —Midnight Crew

How I got inspiration for The Wedding Party – Mo Abudu

16

glitz

13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune With Segun Adebayo &Seyi Sokoya tegbollistic@yahoo.com seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08116954644 08132577840

in me that I was not sure I had. He was the one willing to take somebody that has not been in the studio and said ‘okay come, let’s do this music properly’. He put me in the studio for the first time and shot music videos for me. He came at a time when I almost gave up on music; I wanted to go back to school. I am happy he came around and I am grateful. We have a very cordial relationship and I am happy about how things have played out.

Continued from pg15

Now that you have established yourself as a serious artiste in the industry, what would you say your brand represents?

Well, I will say my brand represents urban, fresh and a little bit of rebel because I am a rebel and people that work with me will tell you that Ycee can be strong and stubborn, but I just feel it’s part of me. I always strive to let people know more of me. I am still trying to put more of myself and my motion into the music I make. I think that is what makes me a bit different from any other person. I am not just making music to make money; I am also making music as a form of expression to make people know that okay, this is how I am feeling. If I put out a dance record, it is not just going to be a dance record because I want to have a hit record out there, it’s going to make you feel something. It won’t be a sound that you just hear and say oh, I like this beat, I like this song.

Looking back to those days when you were not known, compared to now where you are already seeing the big picture; climbing the big stages and putting your music on the lips of the people, how do you reconcile your past with your present?

I actually started music officially in year 2010. At that time, I thought music was just about going to the studio, record a song, shoot a video and you become big if you keep repeating that process. But in 2012 when I got my record label, Tinny Entertainment, I got exposed to the industry itself where you have to know certain people, because it’s not just about the talent. I’d seen some artistes that are talented but did not get to make it. So experience, for me, played a major role because most people thought I really started making music in 2015 but I had been putting out music before then. The first official music I released under Tinny Entertainment was in 2012, I released my first video in 2013. Things were not easy for me at that time because when I just got signed to Tinny Entertainment, I was still very new in the industry. Tinny Entertainment had just started when I was signed. So, after some time, we released singles but we were not getting our desired effect, so around that time I got admission into University of Lagos. So, I took that time to focus on school. I think I was off the scene for a long time, I wasn’t going to clubs, I wasn’t going to shows, I was just going to the studio, recording music and going to school. All through that process, I was just studying the industry, looking at the artistes and what they are doing. That was when I actually learnt a lot, I also discovered that as an artiste, for you to stand the test of time, for you to go that extra mile; you have to be known for something more than your music. It could be your loads, your movement, and it could be your fan base. The way you relate with your fans and everything.

If you look at people like D’banj for example, a lot of people will say he’s not the best artiste out there, but he has been around for over 10 years and he is still out there because D banj is an entertainer, he takes his craft very seriously. So, for me, I just created my sound words and still do rap music but in a way that you will listen to it and be rapping along every lyrics, but you will forget it is a rap song.

Where exactly does your strength lie in all these?

I think my strength lies in the fact that no matter where I find myself, no matter the kind of beat any producer creates for me, if it is a dance beat, I can sing along; if it is a rap beat, I can rap on it. So I think my strength is in the fact that I am versatile enough to listen to a beat and know what to do with it. Over the year working on myself, there was a time when I couldn’t sing by myself, so it is really a 24-hour job where you have to look at your weakness and work on it.

Did you say you have passed that stage of

So you really wanted to give up on music. How would you describe that moment?

No, you know I have been in music 2012 and I believe if you are doing a business that is not bringing the much expected proceeds after some years in the business, then you will begin to ask yourself if you made the right decision. At this time, I didn’t want to feel that I am wasting my time or wasting the time of the label. But as people say, the darkest time of the night is just before sunlight. So I think those dark moments in my life were the moments when God was trying to see whether I will give up. I almost gave up but I am glad for the people I have around me. They made me believe that success takes patience and hard work. I am happy I listened to them. In 2016, everything kicked off and the joy I felt is in the fact that the music started working out under the same people that I started with in 2012. At this moment, I think we have recorded enough music; we’ve studied the business side of music. Right now, the lines are falling for us in pleasant places. I think when it is your time, it is your time.

‘I’m not into music to make money’ struggling now?

Yeah, I will say I have passed the stage of struggling now, but at the end of the day you know everyday presents a new chapter of life. So I have passed the stage of struggling in the studio to make music, now my own challenge is to create different kinds of music because I wouldn’t want a situation whereby I put out one song and I put out another song after that song and now two songs sounding the same and I put out the third song and they are all sounding the same. The challenge for you as an artiste is when you have to work out in the studio and make sure every song was a different experience for my fans.

You signed a deal with Tinny Entertainment at a time when you knew nothing about what you were getting into. Now that you have become established in the craft, are you proud of the deal you signed back then?

I signed the deal with Tinny without having any form of exposure. I hadn’t performed at any show; I hadn’t even had a proper studio session. I remember those days when I would sit at home with my brother, a music producer; he had a laptop and headphones. That was how we started recording our songs. After a while, I met the owner of Tinny Entertainment. When he met me, he listened to the songs that I was recording and said he saw something

Whose decision was it to have Olamide on the Jagaban remix?

From when Jagaban came out, everybody was like we should find a way to get Olamide or Phyno on the remix of the song. At that time, we had not met with Olamide.

We were actually working on how to get him and all of a sudden, I think he listened to the song and went on tweeter and tweeted that he was really feeling JAGABAN and that if we were down to do the remix, he was hoping to do it. So I think it was all his decision and I was really happy because I remember he tweeted that on a Saturday and as soon as the next Monday I was at his place ready to record.

What do you think about Olamide’s rap style and his influence on the remix?

I will say Olamide is a great guy. Over the years, if you look at the success he has attained within and outside Africa, you can’t rule out the fact that he has done well for himself. Above all that, he has managed to keep himself grounded and still be that same very humble person. He is an amazing person; somebody I look up to. So, I think he was just God’s favour at the end of the day because it wasn’t my doing or because I sang the song this way or because Tinny Entertainment signed me or anything. I feel it just happened because it was the right time for it to happen.

How are you handling the pressure to keep the momentum going after the success that greeted the songs you have released?

You will definitely feel the pressure. It could come from the fans, being in a record label where you have to account for expenses at the end of the day. There is pressure but I try my best not to think about it. You know the best way to making hit songs is just to keep working and keep recording. I remember Jagaban was recorded in the morning and as soon as I woke up, I went to the studio to record. I am not rushing it. Slow but steady wins the race.

I believe I have been handling the pressure the best way I could, so I am only waiting for the next pressure.

How did you come about the name Jagaban?

Jagaban is the title given to former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu. I think the name is common in the north, which means “leader of warriors”.

A lot of people just give it their own meaning; most people think Jagaban is suitable for the boss.

17

13 November, 2016

With Akintayo Abodunrin akinjaa03@yahoo.co.uk 08111813058

High expectations as Ngugi wa Thiong’o headlines 2016 Ake Arts & Book Festival The fourth edition of the festival featuring the author of Weep Not, Child and several other writers and thinkers, is packed with literature, music, film and poetry

T

HE recession notwithstanding, the beat will go on sweetly at the 2016 Ake Arts and Book Festival (AABF) from Tuesday till Sunday at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, with literary icon and Kenyan novelist, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, headlining it.

The writer, one of those in contention for the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature (since awarded to Bob Dylan) will be joined by over 50 other class acts at the festival with the theme ‘Beneath the Skin.’

It will be a unique opportunity for Nigerian fans of the Kenyan professor to know more about his life and his creative worldview as he will be sitting in conversation with writer, Okey Ndibe, during the newly introduced ‘Life and Times Series’ segment of the festival.

Some of the other writers who will join the 78-year-old author at the festival where exciting genres including erotica, horror fiction, and prison stories will be explored include Teju Cole, Helon Habila, Adebola

Ngugi wa Thiong’o Rayo, Kingsley Moghalu, Kinna Likimani, Alain Mabanckou and Aisha Osori.

“We have been trying to bring him for the last two years until finally this year, so no worries. He will be here,” founder of the Book Buzz Foundation which organises the festival, Lola Shoneyin, assured at a meet-

ing with journalists on Wednesday.

She added that given the state of the economy, “it is nothing short of a miracle that we are able to pull off this event this year. The challenges of last year were nothing compared to that of this year but we are determined to put up a first class event,

National Troupe brings back Death and the King’s Horseman for Nigeria, Soyinka AS part of its ongoing 56th Independence anniversary performances and in honour of Professor Wole Soyinka, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature 30 years ago, the National Troupe of Nigeria (NTN) will stage one of his most performed plays, ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’ on November 19 and 20.

Artistic Director of the NTN, Mr. Akin Adejuwon, explained that the Troupe is staging the play to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Soyinka’s Nobel Prize.

“Professor Soyinka became the first African to be awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. This is a feat that is worth celebrating and we have chosen one of his epic plays, which incidentally was written 40 years ago to celebrate the literary icon.

Indeed, we find the play which has been acknowledged as one of Africa’s best book of the 20th century fitting to celebrate this living legend and icon,” Adejuwon said.

He disclosed that the November 19 performance would be a command performance hosted by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed while the next day’s production will be for a paying audience.

“We decided on the public performance and to stage the production in line with the minister’s drive for improved non-oil revenue generation through a wholly Nigerian cultural economy. The National Troupe hence showcases the play with a

Prof Soyinka (right) and Alhaji Lai Mohammed view to further fulfilling its mandate to promote and develop our culturally valuable performance products for both local and international markets,” he said.

The play will be directed by Mike Anyanwu and feature guest artistes and those on the books of the National Troupe.

Apart from the production, the Artistic Director disclosed that there will also be an exhibition reflecting Soyinka’s passion

for visual arts on the two days. The National Gallery of Arts (NGA), is partnering the Troupe for the show which will showcase diverse materials on Soyinka, including a large portrait of the literary icon.

A special art stampede on Soyinka, in collaboration with the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA), will also happen before the public performance on November 20.

with first class guests for first class audiences.”

Book chats, an integral part of the festival remains on the menu with nine scheduled for this edition. It will feature 18 authors including Alain Mabanckou, Helon Habila, Laila Lalami, Petina Gappah, Teju Cole, Panashe Chigumadzi, Tendai Huchu, Chinelo Okparanta, Noviolet Bulawayo, Jowhor Ile, Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Odafe Atogun, Tade Thompson and Toni Kan amongst others.

There will also be over 10 panel discussions featuring new and established writers who will focus on identities, race, gender, mental health in fiction and the rise and the fall of African economies. One of these tagged ‘Prison Stories and Literature of Resistance’ will feature Kunle Ajibade, Chris Anyanwu and Ngugi wa Thiong’o with Molara Wood moderating. Another interesting one is ‘Legs Open, Eyes Closed: Sensuality In New African Writing’ featuring Chinelo Okparanta, Toni Kan, Kiru Taye and Nana Darkoa. Sam Umukoro will moderate.

Three workshops will hold before the curtains fall on the festival on November 19. Noviolet Bulawayo, Helon Habila and Sarah Ladipo Manyika will facilitate one on fiction writing; Inya Lawal and Victoria Thomas of The Story Republic will take the class on script writing while Sebastian Loerscher takes graphic short stories.

Apart from the book and intellectual aspect of the festival; films, a stage drama, poetry, visual arts and music are also on the menu.

The two art exhibitions that will run for the duration of the festival will showcase works of Laolu Senbanjo whose ‘Sacred Art of the Ori’ featured on Beyonce’s latest album ‘Lemonade’ and Fatima Abubakar who captures the lives of the people of Borno State in a stunning series of photographs, showing that Boko Haram can never conquer a people’s indomitable spirit.

The music concert will feature Brymo, Falana and Adunni Nefertiti while the festival film is the documentary ‘Hissene Habre: A Chadian Tragedy’ which chronicles the horror inflicted on the Chadian people during ex-president Hissene Habre’s bloody reign.

After the screening, Olaokun Soyinka will interview President, Chadian Victim’s Association, Clement Abaifouta.

Three short films are to be premiered during Ake. They are ‘A Mother’s Journey’

by Sade Adeniran; ‘No Good Turn’ by Udoka Oyeka; and ‘Salt’ by Umar Turaki.

This year’s stage play is ‘Iyalode of Eti’, an adaptation of ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ by Debo Oluwatuminu. The play being staged in Africa for the first time will be directed

by Moji Kareem.

Before the festival closes on Saturday evening with the palm wine and poetry event coordinated by Remi Raji and featuring Titilope Sonuga, Lebo Mashile, Ogaga Ifowodo, Micheal Kelleher and Dike Chukwumerije, there will a tour to the Olumo Rock and mentoring sessions with secondary school students in Ogun State by the writers.

18

Sunday Tribune

13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Segun Adebayo tegbollistic@yahoo.com 08116954644

Seyi Sokoya seyi_sky@yahoo.com 08075166585

MTV strips Wizkid of ‘Best Africa Act’

What kept us together for 15 years

—Midnight Crew

By Seyi Sokoya MEMBERS of the longest surviving musical group in Nigeria, Midnight Crew which has celebrated 15 years of being together as a musical group have revealed that God has been the reason behind their togetherness.

The four members of the group, who on Tuesday, celebrated what started as a dream in 2001 to put the praise of God on the lips of men and women at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos State while they have become a household name in the industry The award-winning group which is made up of Pat Uwaje-King, Mike Abdul, Gbenga Oyebola and Odunayo Ojo-Onasanya and has four albums such as ‘Fusion, ‘Tungba Unlimited’, ‘Igwe ’ and ‘King of Nations’ to its credit, has also displayed individual creativity with Mike Abdul having released a solo album entitled “Mo Rire’ while Pat Uwaje King in 2015 dropped hers as well. Others are into also lofty projects.

THE Executive Producer of The Wedding Party, Mo Abudu has disclosed that she was inspired to produce a film on a Nigerian wedding after attending a wedding last year.

Speaking at the media screening of the movie held at IMAX Film House, Lekki, Lagoss State, she stated that “I looked at all the drama that was going on at the reception and said to myself that a film has to be told about a Nigerian wedding.

There is something special about a Nigerian wedding. That was where the inspiration came from.”

The cast and crew of the ELFIKE COLLECTIVE’s movie who were in attendance at the media screening of the movie included: Banky W,

Nosey Parker ...with Lalacious

Actress’s mum rains curses on actor THIS actor is very popular in the english version of Nollywood. Many people refer to him as the ‘bad boy’ of Nollywood based on the roles he plays in movies. He always causes emotional trauma in movies. He shares the same first name with the second republic governor of Anambra State.

The actor was in a sizzling romance with a very beautiful actress who is from another country close to ours where an air force officer was the oga patapata some years ago. They were indeed an item until things went awry for the relationship. The actress’s surname sounds the same as our current oga patapata .

But the gist we are hearing is that the actress’s mama is very bitter, in fact seriously bitter. We hear that the mama was angry because of the way the actor ‘used and dumped’ her daughter.

The woman, olofofo told us, had thought that with the way the romance between her daughter and the actor was going, it would sure end in marriage and she had hoped for a splendid wedding ceremony.

•Gives it to Tanzania’s Alikiba •We’re sorry — MTV •‘Wizkid not happy’

By Segun Adebayo

W

IZKID has been stripped of his award as 'Best Africa Act'

by MTV days after he was announced winner of the prestigeous MTV European Music Awards. His Tanzanian counterpart, Alikiba how been announced as the real winner of the award after MTV admitted to have given Wizkid the award in error.

In what looked like a turn of events for the Nigerian music star, R gathered that Wizkid, who had celebrated the award on all his social media platforms in the past few days has now been left smarting over MTV's decision to strip him of the award he won just days ago. He had been announced as the winner of the prestigious award a day before the actual show was held.

However, the MTV EMAs website, on Friday reflected Tanzanian singer, Alikiba as the winner of the award, a development which has left Wizkid's camp in a state of confusion with a source close to the singer revealing that Wizkid was not happy about the decision of MTV but he would not make any further comments on the development for now

R, however, gathered that Wizkid, on Friday, deleted all reference to him winning the award off his social media pages and would follow it up with an official statement as soon as he returns from his trip to Durban.

It will be recalled that this isn’t the first time Wizkid and Alikiba would be at loggerheads over recognition. The two stars reportedly had an altercation at Chris Brown’s Mombasa Rocks Music Festival in Kenya a few weeks ago where Alikiba made claims to be a bigger star than Wizkid in Kenya.

Reacting to the mix up, an MTV spokesperson said "Both Wizkid and Alikiba are great artistes and deserving winners at the MTV EMAs and we congratulate them wholeheartedly on their achievements. We apologise for any confusion but we are pleased to recognise the achievements of both artistes on this global paltform."

Also commenting, Tanzania's Alikiba said "thanks to MTV for this huge honour. It is very exciting to be recognised at the MTV EMAs and I am delighted to bring home the award to my fans in Tanzania and East Africa. Thank you to my family and management."

How I got inspiration for The Wedding Party – Mo Abudu

By Tayo Gesinde

Adesua Etomi, Sola Sobowale, Iretiola Doyle, AY, Zainab Balogun, Beverly Naya, Somkhele Idalama, Mo Abudu; the director, Kemi Adetiba and others.

Meanwhile, Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism), a corporate entity which works to plan, supervise, develop, and market Dubai’s Tourism industry has officially announced its collaboration with Elfike Collective’s The Wedding Party.

The grand world premiere of the movie was selected by Dubai Tourism as part of its vision 2020 initiative. The vision was approved in May 2013 by His Highness, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Ruler of

Dubai, as a strategic roadmap to attracting 20 million visitors per year by 2020.

Speaking on the partnership, Mo Abudu said “Nigerians have a warm affection for Dubai. It is a favourite for destination weddings, family holidays and business trips. We are proud of this partnership and we look forward to treating some lucky cinema goers to an unexpected discovery of a city that we all love. We also look forward to hosting the representatives of Dubai Tourism in Lagos this November.”

Africa is a key source for Dubai, we firmly believe that there is a wealth of talent within the African community. We are pleased

and honoured to have been given the opportunity to collaborate with ELFIKE COLLECTIVE which aligns with our objective and commitment to supporting and nurturing young film making talents,” Said Stella The Grand premiere will hold on Saturday, 26th of November 2016 at The Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Guests can walk away with amazing prizes including luxury accommodation courtesy Arabian Falcon, theme park passes courtesy IMG Worlds of Adventure, and helicopter rides courtesy Alpha Tours Helicopter Rides.

Dubai Tourism will be giving away other VVIP gifts to lucky premiere guests.

Seyi Ajo launches new album today All roads will today lead to Based Civic Centre, Iyana Church, Ibadan, Oyo State as fast-rising gospel singer and music producer, Seyi Ajo will be launching his second studio in style. Ajo who started his music career in 2002 as a producer was the brains behind the albums of a number of gospel singers such as Lanre Teriba, King Rocker, Dare Melody, among others.

While speaking with R on his latest project, Ajo who is a sibling of the Ajogbajesu twins insisted that releasing his second studio album would be a dream come true, adding that plans have been concluded to make the event memorable.

The seven-track album, according to Ajo, featured the Adegbodu twins and Femi Solar and is set to change the dimension of his music career. Ajo, who is one of the artistes Femi Solar’s FS7 record label company is promoting, said working with FS7 gave him an insight into how music could be done effortlessly. “I feel proud working with FS7, the relationship is great and experience has been very rewarding.”

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Majek Fashek, Victor Essiet, 2Face, others to headline Africa Meets reggae

By Seyi Sokoya IN his quest to keep reggae music alive Reggae star, Victor Essiet, who is the brains behind the Africa Meets Reggae and World Music International Festival (AMRWMIF), has expressed his readiness to set Lagos State agog on November 26.

According to The Mandators, this year’s event which marks the 3rd edition would be an exception as it would feature headliners including Majek Fashek, Victor Essiet, 2Face, Eljai, Patoranking, King Wadada, Pasuma, Small Doctor, Seyi-Shay,

Orisefemi, among others.

The event, billed to hold at hockey pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, will also witness live performance of Malaika; the daughter of African reggae legend, Lucky Dube; Nkulee Dube, big Bob (Sierra Leone); Redfyah (Ghana); Illest Nana (Ghana); Presh, Captain Blazee, Saint Peters, Jethro Lion, the daughter of the late Sonny Okosu, Faith Okosuns, among others.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, The Mandators assured that all was set to make the

music festival memorable for lovers of reggae music and fun seekers, adding that, “we are passionate to revive reggae as well as support the up-and-coming ones. We will do our best in achieving this even without the support of anyone, but as long as Jah is supporting us. All is set for this year’s event and we assure people of maximum security; we want reggae fans and lovers of good music to celebrate reggae music.”

He also noted that the event would not shift its focus in celebrating reggae music legends and returning reggae to Africa.

Elvis Chuks to release new flick

AWARD-WINNING movie producer, Elvis Chuks has been off the screen for a while but in what seems like a grand return, Elvis is set to release an all-African cast movie.

The movie entitled “All About Love” follows the story that talks about love and the interesting journey only the brave could explore. Shot in the beautiful horizon city of Johannesburg, South Africa the movie features talented actors and actresses such as Nomzamo Mbata (South Africa) ,Katlego Danke (South Africa) ,Zenande Mafenyana(South

After dumping wife, actor impregnates another actress

Chidinma returns with Fallen in Love 2010 Project Fame winner, Chidinma has released a new single entitled: ‘Fallen In Love’.

Produced by Masterkraft, the singer who remains the first female musician to peak at number one on the MTV Base Naija Top Chart, made no attempt to derail from her style but hits her lovers with the uniqueness of her sound; simple instrumentation and vocal arrangements.

Having been silent since the begining of the year following her departure from Clarence Peters’ Capital Hills Records, Chidinma resurfaced during the week.

On top of that, she deleted all the pictures on her Instagram page except that of herself and Flavour, fuelling rumours that there is more to her relationship with Flavour than meets the eyes.

Donning her well-crafted African hairstyle, Chidinma seeks to make the world realise that this is the beginning of a new dawn.

Chidinma has worked with Sound Sultan, Illbliss, Wizkid , Flavour Banky W, Tha Suspect and international acts like Awilo and Toofan.

Following her performance at the 2010 edition of MTN Project fame, the beautiful singer emerged winner and promptly began her music career signed to Illbliss management company, Goretti Company.

Africa),Chris Attoh(Ghana), Leroy Gopal (Zimbabwe), Enyinna Nwigwe(Nigeria), Richard Lukunku (East Africa), Angela Sithole ( Botswana)amongst other great casts.

Produced by Elvis Chuks, written and directed by the Director of Mrs Right Guy, Isibaya and Jacobs Cross, “All About Love” leads us to an interesting journey with All African cast from all over Africa uniting Africa with motion picture. The movie also has the Emmy award winning Nicholas Hofmeyer as the director of photography.

THE wife is a popular actress, she is referred to as a ‘crossover actress’ because she started in the english version of Nollywood before she moved to the Yoruba version. She is from one of the oyel states where the comrade is about to leave his oga patapata seat. She however has a Yoruba first name.

She got married recently to an equally popular Yoruba actor and in a matter of months, the marriage packed up like badly arranged cards. Olofofos said the marriage crashed because the actor suspected that she was giving her yam for everyone to eat.

The actress, who produced a movie that was almost a copycopy of the popular Jenifa we all know, has since moved on, with some Olofofos saying there is the possibility of the two settling their wahala.

But for now, it seems the possibility of settling the dispute is no longer feasible as Olofofos told Nosey Parker that the actor had eaten the forbidden fruit of another actress and the said actress has begun a nine-month course.

According to Olofofos , the actress, who has the same first name with the musician whose surname sounds Shay, was seen with the actor at a popular shopping mall in Ambode state with her bulging tummy, indicating that she had gone far in the ninemonth course.

Musician flees UK after impregnating girlfriend IT seems it is his name that is affecting him. His stage name sounds like Running out of Town. He is a musician but he is not as popular as the Davidos, Olamides and others.

The young man shuttles between our country and Mama Charlie’s country but the news we are hearing about the musician is not a good one. We hear that he has put a girl in the family way over there and after finding out that the lady has ‘got belle,’ he fled Mama Charlie’s country.

According to olofofos, it was the said girlfriend that raised the alarm after waiting endlessly for the musician to ‘show face’ but to her dismay, she got the information that he had abandoned her and left for our country.

It was gathered that the musician became uncomfortable after the girlfriend told him the news of the pregnancy and three months after when the lady showed him the scan of the pregnancy.

As of now, the girlfriend could not get him on phone and it was gathered that the young musician has ‘switched off’ from all his social media accounts.

Polity The

13 November, 2016

Borderless Trump’s victory as the media’s defeat p28

Columns

19

Sunday Tribune

The Lynxeye

Consolidating made-in-Aba initiative p29

Ondo

Before the Judgement Day Two weeks to the governorship election in Ondo State, HAKEEM GBADAMOSI takes a look at the politics of the state, the strengths of the political parties and the unending crises rocking the parties ahead of the landmark election.

T

WO weeks to the governorship election in Ondo State, the major political parties in the election, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alliance for Democracy (AD), Social Dem-

ocratic Party (SDP) and the All Progressives Congress are preparing hard for the daddy of all battles in the state—the election to determine the next governor of the state for the next four years.

With our reforms, the future of Lagos State is secured —Ambode

From the courtrooms to campaign fields, candidates of the major political parties have been involved in different activities, with the tempo in the race for the Alagbaka Government House heightening each

passing day. While virtually all the parties have been locked in one internal controversy or the other, a development that has slowed down political activities ahead of continues on pg 20

I have no doubt Jegede is the next Ondo gov —Mimiko —p26

—p24&25

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thepolity

13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

How gladiators planned to win the battle for Alagbaka House continued from pg 19 the poll, the November 26 date set for the election appears to approaching at a fast pace like an electric train.

PDP: No longer at ease In the PDP, where two factions of the party are in a heated battle over who would be the authentic standard-bearer of the party, not only have political campaigns been limited and slow, the battle for supremacy between the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led PDP faction and the one led by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has also taken the centre stage. As of the time of filing this report, there is still palpable fear in the two camps over who would fly the flag of the party between Mr Eyitayo Jegede, SAN and Mr Jimoh Ibrahim. Though the state governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, whose tenure lapses in February 2017, is still battling to make sure the court reinstates Jegede, political analysts have said that the ongoing development in the party might have serious implications for the party.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had substituted the name of Jegede with that of Ibrahim as the candidate of the PDP following a ruling by Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Abuja, a development that led to the slowing down of the activities of the Makarfi faction in the state, though it has continued with campaigns. The party has

Buhari

Mimiko

Tinubu

also been losing some of its foot soldiers to their opponents in the race, with the resignation of some aides of the governor.

But Governor Mimiko was optimistic that the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja would turn the table. He met with PDP stakeholders last Sunday to raise their hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel, with most political onlookers in the state describing the governor’s move as the tonic needed to boost the morale of the party members who had lost hope in the election.

Mimiko had assured the people that injustice done with the substitution of Jegede’s name with Ibrahim would not stand, describing the substitution as a contrived conspiracy. He noted that the decision of INEC could not find comfort in justice, in principle, in law and in morality but assured major stakeholders at the meeting that justice would be done, because “the impunity will not stand,” noting “that it is something bizarre, abnormal and without precedence in the polity.”

But while political observers have ex-

plained that the PDP campaign might be suffering due to the crisis on candidature, the affirmed PDP candidate, Ibrahim, said he needed no aggressive campaigns to win the forthcoming governorship election, because, according to him, he was traversing a familiar terrain. He said he was not new to the politics of the state and that he needed little or no introduction to the electorate, because he had paid his dues.

Speaking on the choice of Jegede by the Markafi faction of the party, he said: “Jegede is brand new in the system; it took me from 2008 till present date to join this political legitimacy. You cannot come just in one day and begin to think you can win election like that in Ondo State. Nobody just comes and enters like that. Take your time and queue behind.”

However, political observers have found Ibrahim’s declaration not to mount serious campaign across the state curious.

To many of them, Ibrahim’s decision was a tactical confirmation of the insinuation that he was in the race to play a spoiler role by working to pave the way for the APC candidate, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN. There is the school of thought that has continued to maintain that Ibrahim is being used to thwart the ambition of Jegede, who is believed to be a strong contender to the governorship stool, saying “once Jegede is out of the race, it becomes easier for Akeredolu to win.” But Ibrahim has vehemently denied this claim, noting that he is in the race to win it.

Battle for the control of Ondo POLITICAL pundits have maintained that crises in the three leading political parties were the manifestations of the battle among godfathers, who want to use the governorship election in the state to test their political influence and popularity in the South-West.

They noted that there “are two external forces competing to reduce the influence and popularity of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who calls the shot in the state.”

According to pundits, the AD candidate, Olusola Oke is being sponsored by a chieftain of the APC in the South-West who has an axe to grind with the manner the party produced its governorship candidate.

Most of the APC machinery and logistics had been deployed to join force with Oke, whom bookmakers maintain, “looks good to win the election depending on various other factors such as the decision on PDP’s standard-bearer and others.”

The second camp in the supremacy battle, analysts noted, are Abuja politicians, who were said to be behind the emergence of Akeredolu as the party’s candidate and have been working seriously round the clock to ensure victory for Akeredolu in the election. But while some political analysts explained that the two forces see a common enemy in Mimiko and “are working seriously to diminish Mimiko’s influence and popularity in the state by aligning together to form a force against him,” others maintained, however, that the two groups would go against each other in the election, leaving Mimiko to wield tremendous influence in the outcome of the election.

Aggressive campaigns as D-day draws near Due to the abrupt removal of Jegede’s name from the INEC list, the tempo of campaigns in the Makarfi camp has reduced, although Jegede had earlier toured virtually all the towns and villages within the state, with his political structures noted

Akeredolu

Oke

to be solid across the state.

Jegede had been far ahead of others in terms campaigning before his name was substituted, banking his campaigns and manifestos on the achievements of the present administration, convincing them on the need to support continuity to ensure development in the state. Jegede, who has been part of the present administration, highlighted several projects as achievements, pledging to build on these.

Though the court order halted his campaign, Jegede, according to some PDP loyalists, still remained the toast of the people and “will surely overtake all other contenders if the Appeal Court rules in his favour at the end of the day.”

Despite the hurdles facing the former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in the state, his foot soldiers have been everywhere across the state campaigning vigorously for the party and Jegede and assuring the people that his candidacy would make the ballot.

Similarly, APC, AD and SDP loyalists

have also increased their presence across the state, engaging in aggressive campaigns, trying to convince the electorate in the state. But a notable feature in the campaigns of the AD and APC was the shift from issue-based campaign to accusations and recriminations. Though the two parties had, earlier in the campaign, highlighted issues and programmes with each of the parties promising to revamp the state economy, stable power supply, building on existing policies of the present government in the state, reviving ailing and moribund industries, among others, things changed recently as the APC and AD played opposition politics, getting on each other’s nerves.

Strengths, likely chances of contending forces Without doubt, the substitution of the PDP candidate would alter the voting pattern in the forthcoming election in the state unless Jegede regains the party’s ticket, political observers have noted. continues on pg 21

Fear of the unknown in APC camp Though the candidate of the APC, Akeredolu, appears less bothered by the crisis within the party, moving from villages and towns, campaigning and canvassing support from the people of the state, things cannot be said to be as simple as they seemed on the surface. At present, efforts are still afoot to stop Akeredolu from contesting the election, with the first runner-up in the party’s governorship primary, Dr. Olusegun Abraham, leading this charge, having approached a Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to stop Akeredolu over allegations that the party’s primary was rigged in his favour. Akeredolu, however, from his disposition, has not allowed all these moves to distract him and has continued to focus on his ambition to win the election.

Hinting at what might portend danger for the chances of the APC, Abraham recently denied supporting Akeredolu, saying he remained resolute in getting justice on the fraud perpetrated during the party’s primary, adding that the election was fraught with irregularities. Abraham said: “I urge my supporters and the people continues on pg 21

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thepolity

13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Battle for the control of Ondo continued from pg 20 Divided into three senatorial districts with 18 local governments spread evenly across the three senatorial districts, the 2016 governorship election has become a decisive test for each of the zones to prove its strength in terms of voting and political awareness. Though the Central Senatorial district, which comprises Ondo East, Ondo West, Idanre, Ifedore, Akure North and Akure South local government has the highest number of electorate and is regarded as the stronghold of the PDP, the two other senatorial districts from where the candidates of the APC and AD emerged, have been in a kind of silent struggle with the Ondo Central district over who becomes the next governor of the state. The district, which produced Mimiko, who has been governor for two successive terms, has also produced Jegede who was recently substituted, following widespread sentiment in Akure, the state capital, over the fact that it has never produced the state governor.

Riding on what was popularly regarded as the Akure Agenda, the Ondo Central district appeared to have succeeded in the first leg of the struggle to retain the governor’s seat until INEC removed Jegede’s name, a development which pundits noted would affect the turnout of Akure voters if eventually the court upholds INEC’s decision.

Informed observers have, however, noted that even if the court reverses INEC’s decision and installs Jegede as the PDP candidate, the Akure sentiment might not be enough to win the election, saying that with the fact that the Senator representing the district, Tayo Alasoadura, also hails from Akure and has declared his support for his party’s candidate, Akeredolu, PDP might be given a run for its money.

The northern senatorial district has four of its six local government areas within Akokoland, with Owo and Ose local governments being the remaining two. The four local governments in Akokoland have, in past elections, proved to be the stronghold of the APC in the state. The party won most of the seats for the Senate, House of Representatives and the House of Assembly in the 2015 general election.

However, there is the belief that the sequence might change in this election, with the allegations that the people of the area believed they have been sidelined by the leadership of the APC. Secondly, aspirants from the area were among those who raised the allegation of being rigged out in the APC primary, a development that is said to be capable of resulting in a revolt against the party.

Sunday Tribune investigations showed that most of the APC supporters in Akoko might sit on the fence, following Abraham’s open declaration that he was not ready to work with the APC standard-bearer.

“Akoko might be delivered for Oke, who we learnt is being sponsored by the national leader of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu.

He is not on the same page with the APC over its governorship candidate and you will recall that he even went public with it.

It is apparent that most of his machinery has been collapsed into the AD structure in the state to ensure the emergence of Oke as the state governor,” a source who pleaded for anonymity told Sunday Tribune.

Oke has also, in a move described as strategic, picked his running mate from the Akoko area. A former House of Representatives, Ganny Dauda, who hails from Irun Akoko was reportedly picked as Oke’s running mate to appeal to the people of the area after losing the APC slot to Akeredolu.

But while one cannot make conclusions

Agunloye

Jegede

given the nature of politics, analysts maintain that votes fro Owo/Ose axis of the senatorial district would be non-negotiable for the other parties, as the axis produced Akeredolu. An informed observer also maintained that the two local governments usually moved or voted in the same direction in any election. He, however, added that if

Jegede flies the PDP flag, Owo Local Government might be a battle ground for both APC and PDP, because his mother hailed from Ipele in the local government.

The Southern senatorial districts will also be another battle ground area, with the contenders poised to prove a point. Oke has, however, been said to be bookmakers’

There are two external forces competing to reduce the influence and popularity of Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who calls the shot in the state.

favourite to secure about two or three local governments in the district. He hailed from Ilowo in Ilaje Local Government Area of the state and wields a great influence on the people of the area. Oke is also a grassroots mobilIser who appears to be greatly loved by the people of the area, though observers maintain that he has lost some of his followers and supporters after dumping PDP for APC. Most of his supporters remained in PDP and are reportedly working seriously towards ensuring victory for PDP in the election.

While Oke might, against all odds, secure victory in Ilaje and Okitipupa local governments and also poll large votes from the coastal communities of Ese Odo and Irele, though they are said to be PDP strongholds, the presence of APC governorship running mate, Agboola Ajayi, who is from the coastal area will make the race too close to call. The PDP running mate, John Mafo is also from Ilaje and his political influence will also make the election in Ondo South interesting.

Despite the fact that Ile Oluji/ Oke Igbo local council areas are geographically and culturally situated within Ondo-speaking area, but it was ceded to Ondo South senatorial district for administrative convenience. But in the political history of the state, Ile Oluji’s voting patterns had always followed the way of the Ondos and Idanre. With this, pundits have maintained that the PDP might win in Ile Oluji, but the voting pattern of Okeigbo might be different.

However, all these calculations might be altered if the Appeal Court failed to reverse the decision of Justice Okon Abang, as PDP members and Akure voters, who have been said to hold the ace in this election, may decide to sit on the fence if eventually Ibrahim is declared as the party’s candidate.

As external, internal forces ‘war-war’ over Alagbaka House continued from pg 20 to distance themselves from any information or attempt to confuse them and sway their conviction by wrongfully claiming that I am considering a move to work with or support Rotimi Akeredolu.”

Akeredolu had earlier instituted a peace move with all the aggrieved members of the party to ensure victory for the party, disclosing that the peace move had been yielding results. He said: “All of us remain one and all members of the executives of the party still remain one and we are indivisible in this party. We are prepared to at least fight it together as one for APC to produce the next governor of this state.”

With these developments in the APC, keen watchers of political developments in the state have noted that there is the fear of the unknown in the party, which had been eagerly waiting on how things would turn out in the PDP and whether Abraham and his aggrieved supporters would sheathe their swords and work for the party.

AD: Will Oke be second time lucky?

The Alliance for Democracy might be relatively new in the politics of Ondo State, having only become active few weeks ago following the defection of its governorship standard-bearer, Chief Oke, to the party.

At present, it is also viewed as relatively stable in terms of internal politics. However, the candidature of Oke is still stirring controversy within the party at the state and national levels. While some members of the National Executive denied knowing Oke as a member of the party, alleging that

the national chairman of the party unilaterally endorsed and imposed Oke on the party as the candidate in the election, he has been combing the nooks and crannies of the state, campaigning to convince the people for their votes. The National Legal Adviser of the AD, Kehinde Aworele had dragged Oke and the chairman before the court, asking for withdrawal of Oke in the race. Oke, who dumped APC for AD after the party’s primary, noting that the process that produced Akeredolu was fraught with irregularities, was said to have hijacked the governorship ticket from Akin Olowookere without any prior knowledge of the party’s NEC. The legal adviser maintained that the October 14 NEC resolutions where Oke’s nomination was rejected remained binding, saying that those who later revoked it 24 hours after the emergency meeting in Akure, acted on behalf of themselves and not NEC or the party. He added that Olowookere remained the party’s governorship candidate for the election, adding that though they were informed that he had purportedly stepped down for Oke, he had not formally informed the party.

But Oke’s campaign director, Mr Bola Ilori, described the development in the party as “an unattractive side attraction,” saying it “is just part of the fun just to make it more enterprising.” He also fingered opposition parties as the brain behind the legal tussle to cause distractions in the party because of the intimidating popularity of the AD candidate among the masses.

SDP: Will this peace bring vic-

tory?

Political attention in Ondo State shifted from the three leading political parties in the race for the governorship seat to the SDP last Tuesday with the kick-off of the party’s campaign. The governorship standard-bearer, Dr. Olu Agunloye, had on that occasion, promised to correct the wrongs of the present and past administrations in the state.

The SDP, under the chairmanship of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae, promised to form an allinclusive government, saying it would not be on a mission for vendetta but to rebuild and restore the lost glory of the state and to emplace the state to the vantage position it used to occupied in the league of South-West states and Nigeria as a whole.

Speaking at the campaign, the state chairman of the party, Korede Duyile, noted that the party “remains the only foremost party in the forthcoming election with no internal or external crisis,” attributing this to what he described as the integrity of the candidate presented for the election and the understanding of its members.

Political observers have acquiesced to the party chairman’s position that SDP remained the only party without internal crisis, a development which they noted might be important ahead of the polls, citing the towering political credentials of Agunloye and how aggressive the party could reach out to the electorate as other important factors that would decide the party’s fate in the election.

22

thepolity

In this interview, the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Segun Agbaje, speaks on the preparedness of the commission towards the November 26 governorship election in the state, and some other issues. HAKEEM GBADAMOSI brings the excerpts.

13 November, 2016

It will be futile to compromise INEC —Ondo REC

are romancing with the SDP. This is not new.

So if anybody alleges, he must have concrete evidence and should show it to the press so that the whole world will know. So, people should not just make untrue allegations. All these are just to cause distractions for INEC and also cause division among the various political parties in the state.

H

OW prepared is INEC for the election in Ondo State?

INEC in Ondo State in conjunction with our national headquarters is forging ahead. The time table of various electoral processes is being followed religiously. So far, we have concluded the training of our own staff, I mean INEC staff, starting from the heads of departments at the state headquarters, the electoral officers at the local government councils, even assistant electoral officers 1, 2 and 3 have all completed their training as well as that of the security personnel. Also, almost 99 percent of the non-sensitive materials have so far been received from the national headquarters and they have been dispatched to the local government areas.

As you are preparing, there are also insinuations that the election may be postponed. How true is this?

Well, on the issue of postponement of election, I don’t think that is the business of INEC. The commission is not working towards postponement. As I always tell you, the media people, postponement of election is always a problem to the INEC. It means all we have been doing from March this year to this point we will have to start all over again.

Even you journalists that are covering the whole process, it means that you are going to start covering us all over again. It is not part of our plan. We are working towards November 26, 2016 and to enhance security, we are also working with various security agents in the state. That is why we are working with ICCES, ICCES is an Inter-Agencies Consultative Committee on Election Security. We have met severally and we still going to meet next week before the election and we should be able to nip in the bud all areas where threats are likely to emanate ad hocand we have the belief that all the processes that we have put in place, we are going to have peaceful election.

You said everything has to start all over again if there is a postponement, but it happened in Edo State. Did they start all over again within the two weeks of postponement?

In Edo, there was an issue of security that was raised by security agencies and the commission apparently had no choice because there is no way we can go to the field without the security in place that is why they collaborate with us. But in Ondo for now, we do not see any threat in the security line that will warrant postponement. The normal threat we may have are threats which I believe the security agencies are coping with.

Are you under any pressure ahead of the election?

Usually, in a staggered election like this, there is focused attention on the state. If it is a general election, the focus will be spread across the 36 states and FCT. Because it is Ondo State now, there may be focus of attention now, even from you the media people, there will be a lot of attention. So, therefore it is natural to have attention focused on us.

But we are not under any pressure.

You were alleged to be recruiting

Sunday Tribune

But the APC said they have no confidence in you. Don’t you think this may cause noise if the party fails to win the election?

I don’t have any role to play in the election.

Ad hoc staff members are going to do it from the polling units to registration areas and so on. All the processes have been more or less given out to outsiders to do. There is no way I will be involved. Will I tell the ad hoc staff to work with a particular person? It is not possible. That is why we asked the political parties to bring their agents to the polling units to show the credibility of the commission.

The party agents will be there; the security officers will be there. So there is no role for me to play than to oversee the whole process. So, the idea of somebody saying he has no confidence in INEC because of me is just laughable. The election will be conducted whether they like it or not. We have assured every party that we are going to maintain neutrality. All my officers and I have signed the oath of neutrality. Even the ad hoc staff aregoing to sign the oath of neutrality, which means everybody is on his own. Whoever does anything wrong is going to face the music.

Segun Agbaje members of the ad hoc staff who are politicians from Lagos. What is your reaction?

It is laughable. I also read it in a newspaper. I don’t see how an electoral body will send a message to his office to start getting the people that are going to work with him from the chairmen of local governments of one of the parties that will contest the election. Just the same party said the INEC recruited staff from Lagos who are supporters of Olusola Oke, who I have never met before in my life. So, it doesn’t make sense to me that I will be recruiting and training somebody from Lagos. Lagos is supposed to be an APC state. So, why should APC be the one that will be alleging? Ordinarily that is their state and if I want to assist one party, I will go and do it in the APC-controlled state. So, the allegation is laughable to me. It is something that cannot be comprehended. I believe most of these things are meant to distract us.

I have told my officers and the junior staff that everybody should focus and do what is assigned to them; those on voter education should continue to do their advocacy; those on party monitoring should continue to do their jobs; those on operation and ICT should continue to do their jobs. In believe in few days to come we should be through with that and in the next three days we are starting to distribute the PVCs we did in June this year.

From 11th to 15th of this month, we will start distributing all over the state. So, we are doing our work to make sure that things work well. I have told you that over 99 per cent of non-sensitive materials have been received and the sensitive materials will be received on November 23, and on November 22, the chairman of the commission, Mahmud Yakubu, the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Idris will be coming to address the stakeholders in Akure and also to talk to the generality of the people of the state to be getting ready for the election, that the election is

going to be peaceful; that people should not entertain any fear, we are working very hard.

The register will soon be ready and we are talking about all the PVCs for those who registered, transferred and those who have got the cards before.We got over 130,000 PVCs from Abuja last Friday and all had been sent to various local governments and by Friday (November 11) by 8:00 a.m., the distribution of the cards will commence at all local government areas of the state. So if the election is going to be postponed, we will not be doing all these. As we talk, my officers are rounding off their training on election management with the security agencies in the state capital.

So, with these, we are very much sure that we are going to have the election and what we are assuring the people of Ondo is that we are going to have a very free, fair and acceptable and conclusive election by the grace of God and the collaboration of the people of Ondo who have their PVCs. There is also an allegation that you are a close friend of Governor Olusegun Mimiko and that that may affect the fairness of the election. What do you have to say about this?

I am even happy that you media people in the state know me very well. You know my pedigree. Since I got to the state, I have only gone out about two or three times in the evening and my officers were with me where I went to. I don’t hobnob with politicians. When I see this kind of things, I laugh.

It is a laughable thing. Even in Abuja and all over the country, people know me. There is no DSS office you enter in this country and mention Segun Agbaje, they will tell you who I am, even those who I have not met before have heard about me. So, it is not true and as I told you, this came from one of the parties. Before, the APC said we are romancing with AD; the AD said we are romancing the APC. Maybe tomorrow, the AD will say we

Recently, there was protest in some parts of the state on the declaration of Jimoh Ibrahim as the candidate of the PDP by the INEC. The INEC was accused of not obeying a court order that ruled that Eyitayo Jegede’s name must not be removed. What is your reaction to this?

The first court order was received on Wednesday October 26 from Ondo State High Court which we sent to our national headquarters in Abuja. But by October 27, there was another court order from Abuja High Court and that one was the latest order that we obeyed. I think the politicians should help the commission. They are distracting us.

This order will come today, another one will come tomorrow. People are just confused about which one to follow because they are not helping us to manage the system very well. The politicians should be able to manage their internal crisis and resolved their differences. If the politicians that are supposed to be our leaders are behaving like this, I don’t know how they want our tomorrow to be in Nigeria. Honestly, it gives me some thinking that somebody that has a wife and children at home will come out to say somebody that I have never met in my life would say I have arranged to meet him somewhere outside Nigeria when those who are in Akure I have not met them.

But Ibrahim has never denied it. He is still insisting that you arranged to meet him outside the country?

Let him bring his evidence of our conversation. Let him bring the call logs. Let him show the world. Somebody I have never met in my life, how will I be arranging to meet him somewhere? To me, it doesn’t show sense. It is strange to me.

Three prominent political partiescontinues on pg 27

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thepolity

13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

I’ll restore Ondo’s glorious days —Olusola Oke, AD governorship candidate Chief Alexander Olusola Oke is the governorship candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the November 26 election in Ondo State. He speaks on his vision to take the state to a higher level of development, expressing the belief that people’s wish must prevail at the poll. BOLA BADMUS brings the excerpts:

Y

OUR opponents believe that you are desperate, citing your defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and now AD. How will you react to this?

Those who say this are either ignorant or being mischievous. They are ignorant because they fail to know that I have been in politics for over 31 years and I have been rock steady all these years. I was a little boy during the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) days; I joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and was there throughout its lifespan. I was in UNCP throughout its lifetime too. I went into PDP; I was there for 16 years. I rose through the ranks and I became a national officer of the party. I am, no doubt, a beneficiary of some of the achievements of that party.

But people cannot close eyes to reality. At the time I had to leave PDP, it was expedient and I had no option but to do that. All of a sudden, people with ideologies that were incompatible with my dream and vision found their ways into the PDP and hijacked the leadership. It wasn’t partnership or patriotism; it was pure hijacking of the leadership.

And I found it difficult to operate in that kind of environment.

For instance, I was the indisputable foremost leader of PDP after the demise of our leader, Dr. Olusegun Agagu. But all of a sudden, the only way I knew what was happening in the party was through terse text messages sent by one small boy to me. I was totally vanquished within the party and all it required for me was to either get out of politics or find a new platform, so I left the PDP painfully, because that was a party I built over the years. I put everything into that party. And so, I challenge anyone who finds himself in that circumstance that will believe that staying put and fighting, confronting the governor, fighting the system was the answer to it. I didn’t want to cause tension in the polity, so I left quietly.

In the APC, the facts are still fresh in the memory for anybody not mischievous to have forgotten. I came into the party in April; I put in everything in terms of energy, resources, time to build that party. And the party was built. We were assured and re-assured that free, fair, transparent, credible primaries would be conducted. But you all saw what became of that primary. It was the most corrupted primary I have ever witnessed in my life. It was the most perverse primary that I have ever witnessed. Delegates’ tags were sold, and people that were not delegates were allowed to vote. There was no proper accreditation and in the middle of the night, the delegates’ list was substituted. I lost over 250 delegates in the process and so the election was compromised.

The party has its own internal mechanism for redress and I followed due process. The appeal committee constituted by the party came up with the report sustaining all the three legs of the three allegations that were proved before the panel. The panel, therefore, nullified the election. The matter went before the National Working Committee of the APC and by a decision of six against five; they upheld the report of the appeal commit-

well is rather unfortunate. I am coming into this election not on the basis of calculation of crisis in any political party. I believe that I have the pedigree. My people know me. I have a vision. I have a sense of direction and I want to campaign on the basis of issues and things I can do for the people of Ondo State.

But if there is crisis within any party or all of the political parties, the advantage that I have is that I have traversed the entire political landscape across all the boundaries. So, if you are talking of the progressives’ camp, I have been there. If you are talking about a little to the right, a little to the left, I have been there also. And if you are talking about the extremes, I have also seen it all. So, I stand, even without internal crisis, to benefit from these experiences over the years. If you are talking about PDP, there is no important person that I don’t know and who do not know me. If you are talking about APC, I have seen it all and therefore, I am bound to benefit from any crisis within these parties. But I am not one who will exploit any situation and, therefore, what is happening in PDP and even APC is, to me, regrettable and I urge them to find solutions to their problems.

Olusola Oke tee. Regrettably, it is a party where majority will have its say and the minority will have its way. At the end of the day, it became clear that the party couldn’t give to Ondo State the desired change. If the foundation is wrong, you cannot put a super structure on such a corrupted foundation and, therefore, I cannot be part of that perfidy.

What I assure the people of Ondo State is a true change, a change that is devoid of corruption, manipulation and all forms of deceit. I have traversed the entire length and breadth of Ondo State six times. I know all the nooks and crannies; I know their sufferings. I am part of it. In my existence up till now, I have been in this geographical definition of Ondo State without an exit for six months and so I am a partaker in their suffering; I share their pains and joy, their aspirations and hope and I believe that I have service to render to the people of Ondo State and I will be failing in my responsibilities at this time if I maintain culpable complacency when I can do something.

Why the Alliance for Democracy?

The Alliance for Democracy (AD) is our party. It is a party that has ideal, that is built on principle, that is built on vision. Our founding fathers have kept faith with the people of the state. They have keep faith with the Yoruba people and, therefore, I believe that is a very solid platform at this critical time when we want to critically transit and there are conflicting and irreconcilable philosophies and ideologies, which will not ad-

vance the cause of the people of Ondo State.

I need to seek a platform that is known to them, that believes in them, that is structured to advance and protect their interests, AD is the party I found in the process.

But one of the APC’s candidates has been campaigning on why Ondo State must vote for the mainstream party; being an AD candidate, if you win, how will you work with the Federal Government?

That is why you need somebody like me who operated at that national level, who, therefore, will be able to leverage on his experience to synergies with other institutions, other government levels to be able to get the best for Ondo State. What is important at this moment is to get a leader with vision, one with a sense of direction who must have a solid foundation at home upon which you want to leverage.

Ondo State is part of Nigeria and, good enough, I can say that in President Muhamamdu Buhari, we have a president whose politics is nationalistic. Therefore, the argument that I want to have a government that will not have access to the centre is not correct.

People are saying that having been in PDP at some point in time, you are likely to benefit from the crisis in the PDP in this election, do you agree with this notion?

What is happening in PDP and the APC as

There is this apprehension in the state, especially among the electorate, that there are plans to rig the election with federal might. Can we get your reaction on that?

It is not the people that are scared. The politicians are the ones scaring them by saying that if it is only one vote that is cast, they will be declared as winner. This is ridiculous; our electoral process has grown over time with the introduction and insistence on the use of card readers. How much of manipulations can anybody do? I laugh at politicians who believe that this is an APC primary that they can rig with ease. We are talking of election and so this threat of ‘we will rig and win at all cost is a misplaced one. I am busy campaigning out there, while they are in the comfort of their homes and offices threatening the people that they will rig.

You contested in 2012 and you are contesting again in 2016, what inspires or drives you to want to be the governor of Ondo State?

You are quite right, I contested in 2012 to be governor and there were good reasons for me to contest then. These reasons have only multiplied; they have increased, expanded.

Therefore, so long as those conditions are still prevailing and multiplying, I will be failing in my responsibilities not to come out at this time. And what are these reasons?

Ondo State is a state generously loved by God. If we look at the resources available to us, we should be leading: a shining example to others in Nigeria. I am talking in terms of natural resources, human resources, agricultural resources. Whatever resources you can imagine that would help the development of a state, Ondo State has it in abundance. The largest rich human resources, they are all there, but we are not doing well.

A critical assessment of Ondo State today would show that the people of the state are poor. They are not poor in their heads, but continues on pg 27

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Sunday Tribune

I

N the last couple of days particularly in the last three weeks, there appeared to be a kind of misunderstanding within the PDP family in Ondo State. People are confused and unsettled. What is the situation?

What is the way forward? People want to hear from you.

It is important to thank the people of Ondo State and I want them to be rest assured that I appreciate them. They have comported themselves in very commendable way. Their peaceful but rugged and persistent resistance in the last three and a half weeks would go down in record as the new Ondo State way.

You are all aware of the bizarre development in the politics of Nigeria, in the body politics of this state in the last three weeks. Again if you will recall, the name of EyitayoJegede (SAN) of PDP who was elected in an open free primary monitored by INEC and all the security agencies.But suddenly, we woke up on the 27th of October, 2016, to find out that the name has been substituted by somebody who, as of that time, could not lay claim to being a member of the party, whose primary was conducted outside the geographical enclave of the state specifically in Ibadan, neither INEC, SSS nor any of the security agencies were there to witness what happened there. So, there is no question about the fact that what happened on October 27th was a contrived conspiracy of sort because the decision of INEC cannot find comfort in justice, in principle, in law and in morality. Ordinarily, in many climes there could have been violent uprising, but in Ondo, the people stood up to make it absolutely clear, that that will not stand and they managed to ensure that they have not truncated the peace that we have enjoyed in this state in the last eight years.

It’s been a lot of investment all the way, being able to engender the level of peace that we have put in this state and I’m particularly appreciative of you, the people of the state that, in spite of this very provocative conspiracy, they have not in anyway truncated the peace in the land. After this, I believe the proper thing to do was to seek redress through the normal constitutional channels. Redress has been sought by the candidate himself, Jegede,

by PDP and major stakeholders. We have no doubt in our minds that justice will be done, because like I said, this level of impunity will definitely not stand. I want to assure our people in the state, especially, the PDP. Now I am talking as a leader of the party in the state. I want to tell them that we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that they get justice. Let me again appeal to them that, while they demonstrate their resistance to the injustice, they must ensure that we keep the peace. It is the peace that God has enabled us to emplace in this state that has engendered the development that we have enjoyed in the last eight years. I beg that they must remain peaceful.

With the election coming in a couple of days, possibly for the umpteenth time, one will ask what is the way forward and what hope for your party’s candidate? What hope for the people?

Let me repeat what I have said. The injustice will not stand. Jegede will contest election on the platform of PDP. I’m talking as a leader of PDP in the state and also with what is on ground in terms of whatJegede is bringing on board. I don’t have any doubt in my mind that Jegede will be the next governor of the state.

You met with President Muhammadu Buhari and there are insinuations

Sunday Tribune

13 November, 2016

sundayinterview across that you have gone there to parley with him, possibly to cross over to the other side of the divide.

You know that in politics, conspiracy theories abound. Let me just bring us back to what happened on October 27, like I said. The substitution of Jegede’s name by INEC was a joke from the blues. You live in this state; you saw the spontaneity in the reaction of the people. Like I said, we never saw it coming; the decision can find no comfort in law, in the guidelines of INEC itself. This is a situation where somebody without INEC, without security went to Ibadan to conduct primary, then brought some very controversial court order and declared the candidate and what this means is that somebody can go to Enugu or Onitsha; he doesn’t even have to be a citizen of Ondo State, bring an order to INEC and substituted a duly elected person. It was something bizarre, something abnormal, something without precedence in politics and because of the provocative nature of that decision and because it was not based on any law or guideline, the next person to see is the president who is the Chief Security Officer of the country. And I met with him and presented the fact to him and he gave his commitment that he will look into it and that he will ensure that justice is done. I have no cause to doubt him. It wasn’t about APC, PDP. It was about the president being the Chief Security Officer of the nation. If I as the Chief Security Officer of my state sensed danger ahead in terms of something that can truncate the peace in the state, I thought I have that responsibility and I had a very encouraging response from President Buhari. I have no cause to doubt him. He has said he will look into it and if there is any injustice in this, he will ensure that justice is done at the end of the day.

So, it’s not about crossing over?

No, it’s not about party at all. I’m in PDP and by the way I also heard a lot of rumours doing the rounds about me going to APC or making alliances with other parties. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing like that. I want to assure the people of the state, members and officials of PDP that this gubernatorial election, Jegede will contest as the candidate of PDP. I have no doubt about it and again like I said earlier on, we have been here for sometime. We know our people and they know us; they know what we have put on ground; they know our challenges and they know what Jegede is capable of doing to advance the cause of development in this state. As for me, I have no doubt in my mind that Jegede will be the next governor;John Ola Mafo will be the next deputy governor of this state.

That brings me to the issue of governance because governance continues and aside from the heavy politics in the air, what do you have brewing on the table?

One thing is that, while politics is going on, we have not in any way stopped governance itself. You all know that in the state, all the signs of good governance are on, the shuttle buses are running; Mother & Child Hospitals are running; our hospitals are running; our cities remain clean; the environmental officers are up and doing; the state is running very well.

There is security, the security agencies – Police, SSS, Military, everybody is up running.

In fact, governance is ongoing. As I speak with you, some of our capital projects are going on. You will recall that recently we embarked on rehabilitation of Owo-Ikare road that has been completed now. As I speak with you, we

I have no doubt Jegede will be next Ondo gov —Mimiko

Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, spoke with journalists on the ‘state of the state’ since he took over the mantle of leadership, the political crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party in the state over the party’s candidate, among other issues. have concluded arrangements to bring down the Oke-Alabojuto in Ikare - to expand that road and ensure that at the entrance in Ikare, in terms of the road is modern and befitting. We are into many other things. The road that will link Irele with Okitipupa, the Ayekabridge and the extension of the road is ongoing. Many of these critical capital projects are ongoing. The mega schools being built recently – I was told that the Igbekebo, Arogbo Mega Schools are being completed.

Many projects are going on and governance has not stopped. I want to assure the people that we will continue to work until the last day and our prayer is that we will also handover to Jegede, who will also continue and expand and deepen the development paradigm that we have embarked upon in the last eight years.

There’s the need for you to explain the determinant factor of your policy action because some people felt that it was politics and that was why you have to go and begin to tackle those

areas Owo/Ikare Federal road because election is around the corner?

People are just being funny. I got to office as governor because of politics. I got elected the second time because I gave a good account of myself. Is that okay? Whatever anybody feels you may say its politics I don’t know what they mean. I came in through politics. I have a covenant with my God and with the people. I made it absolutely clear from the first day that I will work for the people. Second term, at my inauguration, I

told them the work has not been completed and that we will continue to work and I have made it absolutely clear that we will work till the last day. Whatever anybody says does not bother me. What is important is that I know that my people are thirsty and yearning for development and if so, as long as God has made it possible for me to direct the affairs of this state, I will continue to put in place all the choices that will engender development in Ondo State.

I’m in PDP and by the way I also heard a lot of rumours doing the rounds about me going to APC or making alliances with other parties.

There’s nothing, absolutely nothing like that.

There are certain things that have become recurring decimal in your administration and these things are issues that touch on the lives of the people. Free shuttle, the Mother & Child Hospital, the Abiye programme, the Mega School, the urban renewal Initiative and so many that one can rarely continue to count. Major ingredients of development and growth reside within the realms of sustainability and continuity. What are you doing to mobilise the people, to ensure that sustainability and continuity are really brought to the front burner in ensuring development and progress?

Let me first of all appreciate you for acknowledging the fact that our programmes are targeted at people, because in the cacophony of political sloganeering, people may actually not know that the import of all of these is about the people. Any policy that does not contribute and add direct value to the people is not worth it and you will look through all our programmes, is it urban renewal, health,

education – everything is targeted at how to ensure that we add values to the lives of our people and I keep saying this, especially those that need the help of government most are the people at the lower wrung of the ladder. The people who cannot afford decent transportation for children to school, you remember the spectacle a few years ago, where we have between four/five school children on Okada – afternoon and morning, those are the people that needs help. Our free shuttle is targeted not only at the poor, of course the whole of the society, but specifically those that need government help are those disabled by the social arrangement in the society.

The people who need government are people who will continue to bleed to death from pregnancy because they can’t afford decent hospital care. The people who need government are people who cannot afford tertiary education for their children, because they are asking them to bring N250,000, N350,000 – these are people who actually need government and I can’t tell you that the most important sustainability factor of any programme is to have the buy-in of the people; and if a programme is about the people you can take the buy-in for granted. I can’t see any government coming now and say that as a matter of policy I will stop free shuttle bus – the people will be up in arms against them; but it is possible that they don’t have the necessary commitment and competence that will allow them to continue to run shuttle bus and is one of the reasons you must vote Jegede, who has been with all of these from the beginning.

Now, can you imagine somebody coming now and saying that he wants to build schools and build these squeeze-size cow sheds of those days that we call school. They would expect a 21st century infrastructure like we are building now and people are keyed into it and that is another factor of sustainability. If somebody wakes up tomorrow and says no to Abiye and people who needs Caesarean section will have to look for N100,000 – our children, our women will have to bleed to death because they can’t afford it; People will be up in arms against them, or somebody comes in tomorrow and you have your child with malaria – he is having diarrhoea at night because you cannot afford a few thousand, the child stops breathing and that’s it. A major and most critical factor of sustainability is the buy-in of the people and people will buy into a programme if they can ascertain the direct benefits they get from such programmes.

Having said all of that, like I said, number one most important factor of sustainability is the buy-in of the people. Number two and this is very important, what we are trying to do is to actually legislate some of these programmes. For examples, the free shuttle buses programme had already gone through legislation and what that means is that you cannot administratively stop it. You must have to go through the House of Assembly to repeal the law. As I speak with you, UNICEF, by the way UNICEF B Zone is in Akure and is excited about the ambience, the peace and the functionality of our city. That is why UNICEF has opened a B zone office in Akure – they are collaborating with us. We have put together a law that will encompass all our social – safety – net programmes – Abiye, free bus shuttle, new paradigm of urban renewal.

We are putting all of them together into a law, so that nobody comes in and just go funny about all of these. UNICEF is excited; in fact, they think that what we have done in terms of social services should actually be documented, not only for Nigeria, but also

25

for the developing world. We are working on all of these to put these together. Again, that is another sustainability factor.

Let me just say this and it is very important, if you want this state to continue to be peaceful, we recall what we went through in 2009; we take the peace for granted now but it is a lot of work that has gone into it. It’s a lot of sacrifice on the part of government. If you want this peace to continue, if you want development to continue – our free shuttle bus, if you want us to complete our power plant which will revolutionise industrialisation in the state, if you want the trajectory, this steady development to continue, the most important issue is to ensure that you vote for somebody who cares, somebody who has been there, somebody who has been part of this development paradigm, who we can vouch for, in character, in learning and in competence – somebody who has been part of the thinking, the philosophy, the ideology behind the free shuttle, the programme is unlikely to stop. For example, this government, in spite of the financial challenge we have, free shuttle bus continues to run. As money comes in, free shuttle bus is its first charge, streetlights continue to be on in spite of the challenges, because we are making choice in areas of critical priority. Two, if you want all of these to continue and taken to higher realm, you need to vote for somebody who has been part of this team. Those that are conspiring to get Jegede off the ballot, they know what they are doing. It is not as if the person they want to use to replace him can win election, and we all live in this state. If there’s any way he can win election, but they believe in their own calculation that if Jegede is not on the ballot, then they have a chance of winning.

But I say foul because Jegede is going to run and he is going to be the next governor of the state, by the grace of Almighty God and the good people of our state.

I was going to come to that but again you have spoken it the way you see it.

But something I see in you is the passion with which you support Jegede.

What exactly is this driving passion?

Let me tell you one thing. In the last almost eight years, we have worked very hard to change the story of the state, from one provincial backhood stage to a stage that is coming to benchmark many programmes, not only for Nigeria but Africa. When development issues are being discussed in Nigeria today, Ondo definitely has a place. We have done a lot to bring about peace in the state.

We have done a lot of gender development; we have done a lot to ensure that the people are proud to be Ondo indigenes. When we started the Dome project, our vision was very clear; we said we wanted to make the state the number one event destination in Nigeria. We are not there yet, but there is no question about the fact that we are near perfect. It will get to a stage that I said then, that there will be no event that is actually called an event, if that event has not taken place in our international event centre, and we are on the path to it. This vision that is unfolding before us is not completed yet.

Let me give you an example. We looked at industrialisation, for example. We did a very thorough forensic analysis for what became of the industries that existed in this state before. Two things and the most important and critical is power. It got to a stage that the products continues on pg 27

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thepolity

Lagos State governor, Mr Akinwumi Ambode speaks on how far he has taken the state with his reform and other developmental initiatives. Excerpts:

C

OULD you take us through the rationale behind the creation of the Office of Overseas Affairs?

When I won the governorship election of April 12, 2015, one of the tasks that I had was to see how I could improve on the ease of doing business in Lagos State and in doing that, I also believed we needed to do some kind of public sector reforms to be able to drive the vision which we had actually set for ourselves and in doing public sector reforms.

In doing these reforms, you also needed to have set up some kind of structure or institutional framework that would drive that vision and the vision is very simple; we want a safer, a cleaner and a more prosperous Lagos and one of those structures would be that if you want to tackle bureaucracy in the civil service, you need a location where you could do 24/7 non-stop service to investors. It was very clear that we could create a new face that we could just refer to as Office of Overseas Affairs and Investments and without actually competing with the Federal Government, we needed to find a place where foreign investment and investors could actually come into the civil service and have like a 24/7 access, beyond just going from one ministry to the other and it became imperative that the Office had to be established.

What mandate is Lagos Global charged with and what role does this office play regarding to your vision?

You know the vision is very clear; a safer, a cleaner and a more prosperous Lagos. In driving that vision, it is also very clear that we have to do a strategy to drive the administration in such a way that we are running this administration on a tripod. It’s just three simple issues; security, job creation and then improvement of infrastructure and on that tripod, the first thing to do to allow us make investors safe in is to make Lagos safer and you’ll see that we’ve driven that in such a manner that Lagos has become safer when you compare it to the last 18 months. If it is safe, more businessmen and more investors would be interested in coming to Lagos to do businesses in our environment. So, the role of the Office of Overseas Affairs is to be able to intervene in that process and when more investors are coming to Lagos, we are in a position to now say that more jobs would be created and then when you create more jobs, it’s also possible that we increase our revenues which we will now use to improve the infrastructure. So, the intervening of instruments is where that mandate has been given to the Office of the Overseas Affairs and Investments to ensure that they create jobs, to also ensure that we grow our GDP and ultimately create happiness for Lagosians.

What are the incentives available to investors under your administration?

First of all, is to say that is that we come with a huge sense of credibility. We are extremely transparent about the transactions we do. We are only looking for value, you don’t need to know anybody as an investor in Lagos, once you bring value to the table, we are willing to do business with any investors.

But you know, beyond that, like what Professor Ademola Abass has just said, we believe strongly that we do not necessarily have to do a public private partnership with investors that come into Lagos, our business is to create an enabling environment for busi-

13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With our reforms, the future of Lagos is secured —Ambode

collaborate with the discos and all the stakeholders in the energy sector to come out with a roadmap that actually addresses the security of energy supply and even petroleum supply that we have made. Like I said, we have investment vehicles in the state that can actually drive the future of wanting to have our own petroleum supplies in Lagos.

We are thinking of it. I don’t want to preempt the outcome of that advisory council.

I guess in another few weeks, they will come out with their recommendations. But I can tell you that it is likely going to be in tandem with the kind of desire that you have just requested of us, but in totality, it is not really so much about petroleum supplies. It’s about the energy security of a thriving commercial capital in the country that is being driven as the fifth largest economy in Africa.

We cannot afford to sit down. We have to start thinking about protecting the city and making it more industrial and more investment friendly and that is the way to go.

Gov Ambode ness to thrive. We are not businessmen, we are enablers. We just create the space and when we see there is value, that can create so much impact on our people, we are willing to sacrifice. So, we do sometimes, wave land charges, wave fees, because we know that in the medium time and in the long run, it is going to improve on the GDP and bring jobs to our people. So, we are not out there to choke investors and say that you must go and bring this or bring that, we are looking at the future and that is why I said it is in line with our vision, it would make Lagos more prosperous.

So, where we have incentives and even allowing people have tax waivers, we can as well say you should not pay PAYE as much as we want, depending on how impactful or how valuable those investments are because there are a thousand and one people who have investments that do not come to government to do their business, so when you come to meet the government, government should be able to create a better enabling environment for investors, so those are the things that are lined up, but the truth is this; its more about value propositions and its more about what it does to our people and its more about the tripod, creating jobs; are we going to use the revenue to create more infrastructure and at the end of the day do you bring true happiness to Lagosians, then we are willing to partner with anybody.

Your administration has prioritised putting in place key reforms; there are reforms in civil service, judiciary, land, tax and also development of free trade zones. How have these reforms impacted the drive for local and foreign investments?

Firstly, the simplest impact of our reforms can be found in the level of productivity

that is being churned out by Lagosians now, through the ease of traffic management that we have just put in place. Where we used to transact business from point A to point B for two hours in traffic, right now that has been technically eliminated to about 30 minutes, that one and half hours saved has made Lagosians to become more productive cumulatively and in that sense it is going to grow out GDP, that’s the way to look at it and then beyond all that we are doing, you see that our civil service also has become extremely responsive to the yearnings of the people and service delivery has technically improved over the last 18 months. Another thing you can quickly point to is the work we have done in our judicial and security sector reforms, they look so intangible, but the truth is this; we’ve been having the rule of law properly upheld in this state, so when you put all that together, that is the main thrust of when you can now say confidently that investors can have an enabling environment to do their business and you can see that they are coming in droves and it’s not officially documented, but we know that the FDI that we have gotten in the last 16 months is greater than what has been done in the last 10 years.

Your state is the fifth largest economy in Africa. Are there plans to set up or encourage the setting up of a refinery because for over 23 million people in Lagos so that we don’t have to depend on importation of petroleum.

I absolutely agree with you. For a population that is 23 million and still rising, you need energy security to protect the prosperity of Lagos. Beyond the fact that we are not in the right position to drive our energy needs, we have decided that we are going to

If we have 23 million people, what is your plan for these citizens of Nigeria who are Lagosians to access government services given the age of technology particularly with respect to the fact that businesses or economies today are driven by small medium enterprises?

If I had my way, I would virtually want every service in Lagos State to be done through technology. But the truth is that while we want it to happen, we need the infrastructure to make it happen. It’s not enough for me to have the application; I also need the hardware and the infrastructure to drive it. How much of the taxes that I am getting from the citizens can I use to devote to technology?

So, we are limited by the resources that we have. It is not politically correct right now in a recession that we would say we want to increase taxes; we are not going to do it, but again we can get more efficient in the collection machinery that we are using by also applying technology to improve on our collection machinery so that we would get more taxes to be able to serve the people.

But like you have just said, the ability to be able to permeate the SMEs, the artisans and the individuals is our major drive, that’s why decided that we are having a N25billion Employment Trust Fund which we would commit N6.25billion every year for the next four years, that money is not for the big investors, it is to be able to tap into the SMEs and into the creative talent of the younger ones and be able to rise above what it is that we think is poverty and in doing that, we are going to use our identity card project to allow people to be identified and then more importantly, to use it for data planning, economic planning and financial planning, so that each person can use that same technology that we are trying to do to have access to the services that we are providing. It is herculean. Sometimes you want to do it in a PPP way. We have already awarded a contract with Thomson Reuters in which we are going to do a Geographic Information System (GIS) and be able to identify every property in Lagos State and also identify every individual and I can tell you we need a census of those who are living in Lagos State. We need to know who are our residents; we need to know those who are coming in and going out, without doing this as a backbone, we cannot actually allow a whole lot of people have access to the services. It’s something complex, but it is doable.

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

I have no plan to join or make alliance with any party—Mimiko continues from pg 25 could not be competitive because of power…

Look at Oluwa Glass for example, the furnace has to be run on diesel, black oil, non-stop. It got to a stage, that was no longer competitive.

There is also the administrative part of it there, too much government in it and they messed it up’ but the most important ….look at them all, is it Ifon Ceramics; the most common factor that supersede all of those factories had been power. When we came on board about four years ago and we did a thorough analysis of all of this, we thought we wanted to do something about power, that was even before reforming the power sector and we signed many MoU’s with many private sector people, etc; even the power purchase agreement so complex, so complicated; when the power reform started around 2011 or so, we just decided to take the bull by the horns and let us set up our full independent power. Let’s put it in an industrial park. Let us put it in Ore because of the strategic advantage of Ore; just a few hours from Lagos, which is the biggest market in Africa. Let’s put it in Ore because Ore is just sitting in the middle of the country between the East and West or even going to the North you have to go through Ore; and we predicted that if we can put that there, industries will work on their own feet to Ore park; and we started. That power plant, the turbines have been installed and it is the first tri-fuel powerplant in Africa. Turbine installed, everything is set, what we are agreeing now is make sure that we get gas into the place. When this is completed and this 85 per cent-90 per cent completed, industrialisation will just come and sit. I was sitting somewhere and somebody says he will revamp all the industries that are dead in Ondo State, I just laughed because they don’t know what they are talking about. Those could be snowball’s talk, but when it comes to reality, the facts on ground, there are some critical steps that must be tak-

en. We have taken those critical steps. Jegede is part of all these processes;Jegede is all about the thinking that went into the Dome, into the power plant, into the larger industrial city. All of these and we need somebody who knows all of these; who has a competence and who has the heart of the people to continue to drive; that is why I am passionate about this candidate. I have no doubt in my mind that judging. I have said it. He is a guy that has a very good heart. So, he will drive this state very well.

What is your message to the people?

Again, let me greet the people of the state.

I’m very proud of them. I thank them for their support and confidence all the time.I’m not perfect, but somehow they have given me their support in spite of my shortcomings. They have demonstrated time and time again that they have confidence in me and the administration. I must thank them for all the support and prayers. I can touch the prayers, I can feel them. I want to assure them that I will continue to provide leadership for them. In every season, inspite of challenges of the moment, no matter how critical those challenges are, their interest

will continue to be the number one driving force of all activities and all decisions and all choices that I make as their governor. Three weeks ago, we have this incredible challenge, this provocative ruling of INEC, but they have kept the cool and have shown that they can demonstrate principle and resistance without actually going violent. I want you to continue along that part. There’s nothing to benefit, absolutely nothing to benefit from violence. Have confidence that as your governor I will ensure that that injustice is redressed and that it will not stand. Jegede will contest the election along with others from other parties. All the candidates is it APC, AD, all of them will contest this election. I know what I know that Jegede will win anyway but one thing I want to appeal to them for is that they must be peaceful and must go about the electioneering process in a verycivilised manner. We must avoid planning to rig election. Removing somebody’s name from the ballot unjustifiably is technically the beginning of rigging; but like I said, we have resisted that and it will not stand, justice must be done in that case, but even when the name is restored and we go into the real election. The people should

‘What I stand to gain in PDP, APC crises’ continues from pg 23 in their pockets. And I have come to appreciate over time that poverty of the pocket could also affect the poverty of the head. If you traverse the entire landscape of Ondo State today, you cannot find one industry that is producing anything. The concomitant effect of that is that employment cannot be generated anywhere. Government has come to a standstill in terms of the employment of its citizens. We need to di-

versify our economy to be able to get our citizens engaged.

For seven years running, graduates from the universities have come out in their hundreds of thousands every year with no employment opportunities. The effect today and humiliatingly, is that most of them have become okada riders, drivers and beggars and are idling away at cheap joints in the communities.

This is not good for us. It is the recipe for revolution any moment and, therefore, I can-

It will be futile to compromise INEC —Ondo REC continues from pg 22 the PDP, the AD and the APC have cases in court on the issues of candidacy, if court delivers judgments before the election, what will be the action of the INEC? That is why when we were declaring the candidates on the October 27, it was put there bodly in front of the name of Jimoh Ibrahim and his deputy that they were included because of court order. So, which means that if by tomorrow there is any Appeal Court judgment that says it is another person, definitely the commission would be bound to follow that Appeal Court order. That is the meaning of court order that is put in front of his name.

How many people have collected their PVCs in your record now?

As of October 31, 2016, about 1,201,553 people have collected their PVCs. We are going back to the registration areas again. As I told you, we still have about over 131,000 plus the 300,000 that have not been collected before. So in all, we have about 457,663 PVCs yet to be collected that is both the old ones and the new ones and we are taking all of them to the RA level (wards).

What are the things put in place to ensure the card readers for the election do not malfunction?

Following what we saw last year, we have improved on it. Now, we have got them serviced in readiness for this election. In the next one week, they will be configured to the various polling units across the state for

comport themselves in the most civilised manner. We should avoid thuggery, intimidation, ballot snatching and all of that.

Let’s have a clean election like we had in 2012 and I’m sure by the grace of Almighty God, Ondo State will continue to develop, move in leaps and bounds. We will eventually be leader of states in Nigeria.

Let me also thank the press, because in all of these, the story you tell to the people and the way you colour it can actually cause a breach of the peace. I have monitored the press in the last three weeks of this crisis and I have found out you have been very forthright, honest and very responsible the way you have handled news. I must thank you because you are part of our success story.

I also appreciate the security agencies. They have been so wonderful – the Police, SSS, Military, Civil Defence; they have handled the affairs of security in the state in the most responsible manner. I have to thank them and I want to assure them that as government we will continue to partner with them to ensure peace and I also want to let them know that there will be challenges ahead but they must continue to stand up to ensure that they protect lives and property in Ondo State.

the election. We have asked the chairman (INEC) for more smart card readers from neighboring states and he has magnanimously agreed. What we are planning is that for every four smart cards readers that we have, there will be one extra. We are going to have excess card readers more than what we used last year.

The coastal areas of the state are difficult terrains and are known to be haven of electoral malpractices. How is the commission going to tackle this?

I want to tell you that this is going to be a different scenario entirely, because in 2010, there was an election. In 2014, election could not hold there. Last year also, about 13 card readers were taken away and dumped into the ocean and because of that, both the army and the navy have agreed to support us there.

The navy is going to be on patrol throughout the period of the election to ensure that nobody disturbs our people from going to their various poling units. So, security is going to be tighter this time than what we used to have before.

Some of your men are alleged to have been compromised. How are you going to tackle this?

How are they going to be compromised?

They are in the polling units; the party agents are there. The security agents are there, the people will say INEC people are bad. How are they going to be compromised? INEC officials are not going to be engaged directly.

So, they are just going to stand aloof. Right from the unit they will count the result and

they will give the copy of the result sheets to the party agents and the security agents.

They will move from there to the registration area where, again, they will do the counting and announcing. Then they will give the result sheets to the party and security agents from there to the local government and the final results will be brought for the Returning Officer to also aggregate. So, I don’t see how they will be compromised. I have told the politicians that they are wasting their time if they think they will give money to either REC or my senior and junior officers because nothing I can do. Even if you give me N10 billion, it cannot help you in the election. There is nothing I can do. I can’t alter the result that had been declared at the polling units, wards, local government that everybody has seen.

The Returning Officer can’t also do anything.

Nobody can help anybody. That era has gone.

How are you going to handle the issue of misrepresentation of fact concerning the result, especially on the social media?

That is why the law has given INEC the authority as the only body to declare results and that is why INEC ensures there is transparency at every level. At the polling units, the result sheets are given to the party agents and I don’t see how the agents will not take the results to party secretariat for them to collate.

There is no way anything can be altered at any point. That is how INEC works now, but politicians don’t like it. They have their own ways, but it is now left for them to key into INEC agenda and there can’t be any illegality in this matter.

not fold my arms.

How do you hope to change all of these if elected?

We are not unaware that the economy is in bad shape and Ondo State is worse for it. And of course, it has to be so, when we had enough we never built a solid foundation for the future. Lagos State is said on record to have the fifth largest economy in Africa today because while there was abundance, preparation was made for the future. We didn’t prepare and now we have been caught unawares. Therefore, we need a lot of vision to be able to bring about all the good things I have said.

First, the major burden is debt burden. I may not be able to be too specific but I am told and I readily believe that we are down with over N108 billion debts in Ondo State. That is a major challenge to the incoming government. But government liabilities are valid assets. Government assets and liabilities are valid assets; no government can take assets and run away from liabilities. But the way to manage it and reduce the effect on what we are doing is to go back to the negotiation table and reschedule some of those debts, not in terms of the avoidance of liabilities but to give space so that the amount committed to servicing the debt can be reduced and whatever you get from there can be ploughed back to face the challenges of government Two, we have a lot of assets that are wasting away. We should do something urgently to complete the various industries or factories started by the last administration, which were nearing completion in their different stages.

And then we can bring in private investors, after proper evaluation. The truth of the matter is that despite the depreciation of those assets, the state of our economy, that is, the devaluation of Naira has also helped in enhancing their value.

You can’t ask Ondo people that area already badly affected by the economy to pay more taxes. Even the ones on ground presently, may have to be reviewed to give it human face. Now, the Olokola project is there, we intend to bring that back on the table and it will be able to solve tremendously the problems confronting Ondo State at the moment.

The cassava processing industry in Ikoya is there. So we look at the entire projects together, they will all help to begin to re-shape our economy.

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13 November, 2016

T

HE first in this series was on September 18. I deliberately delayed this follow-up to meet this moment that was almost not be-the eventual enthronement of Justice Walter NkanuOnnoghen as the new Chief Justice of Nigeria. I penned the first when the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC) nominated him to the National Judicial Council (NJC) as the most fit and proper person to lead the nation’s troubled judiciary in these extraordinary times. NJC carried the nomination and recommended him solely to President Muhammadu Buhari as the person to take the system to a new height. The recommendation, which was about a month ago, was done in the heat of executive/judiciary face-off as fronted by DSS/NJC tango and what many insiders tensely expected, began to unfold.

As the appointing authority, Buhari simply applied brakes on the appointment process by refusing to send his name to the Senate for confirmation and not even deeming the recommendation from NJC, any acknowledgement. Both the executive and judiciary handled the waiting-game tension with commendable maturity. But it was certain something must give way as yesterday’s CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed moved close to his exit point. Fortuitously, Gibbers had a first-hand, eye-witness watch of tumbling events of last Thursday that birthed the reluctant Friday swearingin at Aso Rock Villa.

Expectedly, Nigerian Tribune was the first anywhere in the world to break the story. The last-minute, behind-thescene maneuvers that delivered Onnoghen would be told in details later.

Stories abound over Buhari’s vacillation on Onnoghen.

Gibbers heard both titillating and torrid tales from political and judicial circles. Those tales would go with the horse-trading stuff next time. But since nothing official has emanated from the presidency, there are two choices here; go with grapevine salacious but rootless conjectures and outright fabrications or simply assume that the president wasn’t just ready for the appointment in substantive capacity. I stay with the latter.

The only snag with just believing that there were no games from Buhari’s end, is that the deafening silence from the presidency on the inexcusable delay in either accepting or rejecting NJC’s recommendation, that almost got the nation into another round of needless constitutional crisis (someone somewhere planned to do something very drastic if Buhari hadn’t consented on Thursday to swear Onnoghen in), is the creation of new band of social commentators and analysts who have been on a spin, saturating the entire stratosphere

MAINSTREAM media in the United States of America made no bones about their preference in the just concluded presidential election. Hilary Clinton of Democratic Party was their choice and they brazenly promoted her candidature. They spared no effort to sell Mrs Clinton to the American electorate and went the extra mile to demarket the Republican candidate, Donald Trump. Everything about Clinton was great news, while everything about Trump was a disaster. While Trump was presented to the public as a villain, Clinton was primed as a hero.

The media projected Trump as the devil who was determined to destroy the American value and system, while Clinton was portrayed as the angel with the capacity to ensure the entrenchment of the American dream.

While it is within the rights of individual reporters and correspondents to be sympathetic to the cause of any person or party, the media organizations those reporters represent and the media institution, as a whole, enjoy no such privilege. The media, as an institution, is expected to be unbiased. The media, as a matter of fact, is not supposed to have its own opinion or view; it is supposed to reflect the aggregate views of the people. Hence, it is said that the media mirrors the society; it beams to the society what the society projects to it. But the narrative of the just concluded elections shows that the media tried to force its position and its candidate on the American society, that is why there was such a shocking consequence.

Media managers must stop arrogating to themselves the powers they lack by thinking that the society will lap up whatever is presented to it. Media owners and managers need to come to terms with the fact that the media reflects and mirrors the society, it does not recreate it. Any attempt by the media to recreate or mould the society in its own image will always meet with devastating failure.

Granted that the agenda-setting function of the media confers on it the responsibility to set agenda for the society, but what most media managers fail to understand is that it is the people, not the media, that must determine the agenda to be set. Such agenda must be peopleinspired and people-determined; otherwise it will fall flat on its face. Before the media can successfully perform its agenda-setting function, it must first perform the surveillance function, which is finding out what the preference

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Viva Onnoghen (2)

with a combination of a pinch of truth, large dose of halftruth, decked-to-hilt lies, all bound in humongous ignorance.

That is what you get when you hold on to a faulty procedure. There appears to be something inherently deficient in Buhari’s mode of appointment. The only ones that escaped the usual controversy were his personal aides whose genealogy has been traced to his household. Is it a deliberate act to make it difficult for non-family members, particularly from outside his Northern zone? Or is it because those appointments running into hitches are constitutional in nature? While Mr President can be forgiven for not understanding that the main essence of having a constitution is to prevent the type of near-meltdown over Onnoghen, his legal handlers can’t be exonerated. Democracy is about constitutional governance. I hope the president doesn’t have too many advocates of suspend-the-constitution-togovern-well around him. Or does the president simply get his kick from being kicked?

The argument over the constitutionality of Onnoghen’s

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Trump’s victory as the media’s defeat

of the people is. Without first carrying out its surveillance function, the media will fail trying to foist its own agenda on the society.

The Nigerian media successfully set an agenda to oust

Sunday Tribune

acting appointment is needless. While it is certainly unprecedented for an available appointing authority to go for lastminute acting engagement at the CJN level, Buhari’s action isn’t unconstitutional. He is empowered by Section 230 (4) of the 1999 Constitution, to appoint the most senior justice of the Supreme Court as acting CJN if the seat is vacant.

The only brief acting appointment was during the controversial sick leave abroad of late President Musa Yar’Adua, with then former Vice President Goodluck Jonathan without constitutional authority to act. Outgoing CJN IdrisLegboKutigi swore in successor Aloysius Katsina-Alu on his valedictory to avoid a vacuum and constitutional crisis. A constitutionally-empowered Jonathan later perfected the process. The spin-doctors, comparing the two scenarios, if conscientious, should know they are not analogous. Buhari was available and not constitutionally disabled. He simply didn’t want to complete the process and only he can tell his reasons.

The moral of Buhari’s way with the controversial appointment should condemn him and his team. Instead of employing the dangerous silence strategy which numerous interpretations could cost the nation dearly, considering the fragile balancing surrounding Onnoghen’s candidature, his religion and Niger-Delta race as well as the ethnic imbalance that has trailed appointments to the CJN office in the last 30 years, the reputed tough president should have shown balls by being definite on his decision concerning the recommendation from NJC. The constitution so empowers him. He isn’t under constitutional obligations to accept NJC’s recommendation but he isn’t also constitutionallyenabled to side-step the council in appointing a new CJN. If there are verifiable grounds of objection, Buhari can reject Onnoghen and write the council accordingly, furnishing it with empirical evidence of Onnoghen’s unsuitability for the office since there are condition-precedent listed by the constitution. It is doubtful if NJC would reject such an outcome, with undeniable proof.

Buhari’s walling is more of cowardice considering the consequences of speaking out. It also in a way confirms the suspicion of an agenda of whichever kind; to stop either the Ag. CJN as a person, his Niger-Delta race, Southern Nigeria or his religion (he is the second Christian CJN in about half a decade, the first being Katsina-Alu) from taking the seat. Even some governors, including a couple who are now Buhari’s allies, have demonstrated better courage than Mr. President in matters like this.

(To be continued)

President Goodluck Jonathan from office in the 2015 election because it first gauged the feelings of the majority of the people. Many Nigerians were dissatisfied with the administration because of the alleged widespread corrupt practices and its failure to tame the rampaging terrorists in the North East. Finding out the people’s preference before taking a position made the prosecution of the ‘Jonathan Must Go’ agenda a success.

But the Nigerian media bungled it in the 2014 Ekiti State governorship election, when many mainstream media outfits sided with the then Ekiti State governor without first carrying out a surveillance to find out what the most important factor in the process, the Ekiti people, wanted. Eventually, in spite of the priming and copious space given to Dr. KayodeFayemi by the media, MrAyodeleFayose defeated him in the contest.

The point is, while there is no denying the media’s enormous power, it should not be forgotten that the power emanates from the people. The media is only as powerful as the people allow it. One critical law of power deployment is the recognition of its source. Unfortunately, mainstream media is beginning to forget that its power derives from the people; hence it has been moving away from the people and gravitating towards the corporations and the Establishment. The media has been reporting the big advertisers; companies and governments, at the expense of issues that are important to the generality of the people. It is the distance between the people’s aspiration and the media’s interest that has given strength to citizen journalism. The people are gradually taking back, with the help of technology, the power they had earlier ceded to the media.

When the mainstream media failed to help Donald Trump in transmitting his position on same-sex marriage, abortion, gun control and school vouchers, among others to the people, he resorted to the new media, especially Twitter, to communicate his message. The outcome of the election is a proof that those issues are more important to many American people than the highfaluting issues which the media attempted to project Trump as incompetent of handling.

In the final analysis, it is a society, not the media, that determines its fate.

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I

T all started like a dream. Former Deputy Governor of Abia State, whom you can appropriately refer to as an “Aba Boy”, took off with the annual made-in-Aba Trade Fair organised in Abuja as soon as he became a Senator representing Abia South. His vision was to showcase the ingenuity of the Aba manufacturer to Nigerians in Abuja and even foreigners that throng the city.

The programme, which started as a Constituency Project of the Senator, was domiciled within the budget of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN).

Each year, Senator Abaribe’s constituents from Abia including leather manufacturers, fashion designers, footwear makers, bead makers and traditional wear designers would pack their wears and land in Abuja for the week long Trade Fair.

The venue initially was the This Day Dome in the central area of Abuja. Later it got shifted to the Investment Park, besides AGIS office in Area 11.

The 2016 version received more official interest with a high-powered delegation of the Senate. Senate President Bukola Saraki, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce and Dino Melaye participated fully in the opening and the closing ceremonies.

They also bought wears from fashion designers and freely displayed the same on the cocial media.

From that point onwards, the Senate President, who declared at the opening ceremony that he was orchestrating a review of the Procurement Act to further accommodate made-in-Nigeria goods became an advocate of made-in-Aba, just like Abaribe. Within weeks of the 2016 edition of the Trade Fair, the Senate passed amendment to the Procurement Act and sent the same to the House of Representatives for concurrence.

The first green light appeared to have been given by the Nigerian Army, which has ordered a huge number of boots for its officers and soldiers from Aba manufacturers.

So last Thursday, it was with a heart of gratitude that the made-in-Aba project headed by Chief Sam Hart visited the Senate President and the office of Senator Abaribe.

The made-in-Aba project, accompanied by members of

13 November, 2016

the lynxeye with Taiwo adisa

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Consolidating made-in-Aba initiative the Leather and Allied Products Manufacturers Association of Abia State (LEAPMAAS), thanked Saraki and Senator Abaribe for projecting their goods and making the nation realised the need to buy Nigerian goods.

Hart told the Senate President on behalf of the manufacturers: “We are here to express our gratitude for your support and show appreciation on this project. Today, we confer on you the title of the Ambassador of made-in-Aba goods.

We also commend Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and the entire Senate for supporting the passage of the amendment to the Public Procurement Act. By this singular action, you and the Senate have institutionalised the buy made-in-Nigeria campaign.

“We commend you for your tireless propagation and advocacy for made-in-Aba goods. We use this opportunity to assure you and the Senate that we shall continue to improve on the quality of made-in-Aba and indeed made-in-Nigeria goods. Goods produced in Aba are indeed of high quality.

Sunday Tribune

There is nothing that can be manufactured elsewhere which cannot be produced in Aba.” Saraki also told the gathering that the Senate would do more as the Federal Government spends at least N2 trillion on procurement of all sort of items in a fiscal year. He said that a huge chunk of that amount should be spent locally.

He said: “I commend you for your determination and creativity. When I came for your trade fair in Abuja earlier in the year, I promised you that with the support of my colleagues here in the Senate, we will make the campaign to buy Made in Nigeria go beyond a trade fair and become a national agenda for all Nigerians.

“Today, we have made it a national project. I also promised you that we will amend the existing law to give your efforts a solid legal backing that will ensure patronage for your products and that of other local manufacturers. That has also been done with the amendment of the Public Procurement Act. “Government agencies must necessarily and compulsorily patronize locally made goods. It has started with the order made for booths by the Army.

“If the army is doing that, I also challenge all the other agencies to follow suit. I challenge all the Senate committee chairmen to ensure that all the other agencies, whether it is Air force, Navy, Customs, even the Road Safety, Civil Defence, NYSC must follow suit. We should include that as part of the conditions when they come to defend their 2017 budget. They must show evidence that they patronise and purchase locally made goods.”

Now that the Senate is leading the way to instutionalising made-in-Nigeria, the executive also needs to elevate the discourse from mere talk to action points. For instance, it can’t be a funny idea to see the Federal Government award multi-million naira contracts for procurement of foreign-made electricity meters whereas a number of meter manufacturers are domiciled in Nigeria.

thepolity

‘Ize-Iyamu has no legal standing to challenge Obaseki’s election’ Odaro Ize Omoregie is one the APC leaders in Edo State. He speaks with BANJI ALUKO on how former Governor Adams Oshiomhole and some others destroyed godfatherism in the state and some other issues.

IT appears all is not over with the conduct of Edo State governorship election as the PDP has gone to court. Do you have any fear and is it true that your party tried to avoid being served necessary tribunal papers?

Edo State at the moment needs to move on. We need to consolidate on what we have achieved over time. OsagieIze-Iyamu was part of the ACN and APC governments and knows what has been achieved by these governments. I find it very disturbing that instead of accepting defeat and looking beyond certain interests, they are pushing a case at the tribunal. Is it not funny that Ize-Iyamu and the PDP are saying that election was rigged in the 13 local government areas won by the APC and that everything was okay in the five local government areas presumably won by them. These are not serious prayers one could demand from a tribunal. I would have expected them to say that the election in the entire state should be looked at. Going to the tribunal may not be the way forward. As a true son of Edo State that he is, he should have commended the victor and take it in the spirit of sportsmanship.

On the court papers, I find it funny that some people said the APC and Obaseki avoided being served court papers. It is absurd and a mere propaganda. PDP has always survived on propaganda, well calculated propaganda unlike the APC that is in for governance. The governor-elect is a focused man, who will not want to be distracted by cheap lies.

Are you saying the APC did not lock its secretariat so as not to be served court papers?

It is not correct, because the secretariat has been long sold by the owners and the APC is at the verge of relocation and building a modern secretariat. It is an outright propaganda and falsehood. APC would not for one minute blink over PDP’s case at the tribunal. These people know where to find Godwin Obaseki if they wanted to serve him any paper.

Now that the papers have been served, it appears the APC have no choice than to appear at the tribunal.

It is not a matter of not having a choice; I think it is high time we stopped propaganda and cheap publicity.

through this hullabaloo.

Is it the responsibility of the APC to determine who the candidate of the PDP was in the election?

We as citizens of this country have the right to comment on issues as they unfold. I think whatever affects the APC or the PDP, as a microcosm of the Nigerian state, will reflect on the efficacy of governance. The PDP leaders, as you know, considered Nigeria as an extension of their party. I think the candidate that came out of the ModuSheriff group should be allowed to have his say.

Omoregie

Legal fireworks will now commence…

Legal fireworks over which election? Have they got any locus standi to be in the court in the first place. No, because if you look at the Ondo State issue, the judgement of Justice OkonAbang has been enforced by INEC. Edo and Ondo state issues came up on the same 30 June, 2016, and Justice Abang made it clear that the Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the PDP is the authentic one. It was made clear that only the ModuSheriffgroup could produce governorship candidates in both Edo and Ondo states. So, I don’t know why anyone should be talking about legal fireworks at the tribunal. PDP should accept defeat and allow Edo people to enjoin the dividends of democracy, which Governor Oshiomhole has laid a solid foundation to grow.

So, you are saying that Pastor Ize-Iyamu has no locus standi to challenge the victory handed to Godwin Obaseki?

With the unfolding judgement over the Ondo case, I think so. I will sincerely advise him to focus on his good work as a pastor of the Redeemed Church instead of taking Edo State

You were involved in the election of President MuhammaduBuhari and one would expect you to be given an appointment as a compensation for what some of you did. Are you not bothered that nothing seems forthcoming?

What we did was actually a nationalistic work to remove the PDP from power. Of course, here and in many parts of the world, you often get rewarded with appointments or in some other ways. It is not surprising that those who were in the trenches to ensure that Mr President got to where he is now are still on the street. I, however, still believe that opportunities still lie ahead. We shouldn’t forget that President Buhari met an empty treasury. He also promised to maintain a small government.

Some people have said that Governor Oshiomhole, while dislodging political godfathers, succeeded in turning himself to a godfather and that he might be calling the shots after leaving office, because he installed the governor and his deputy.

The emergence of Godwin Obaseki as governor and Phillip Shuaibu as deputy governor had the support of the majority of the members of the APC in Edo State. Don’t forget that a free and fair primary election was conducted. Before now, we had someone who was decided who got what in the state.

This was what someone like Charles Idahosa, who resigned from the Lucky Igbinedion administration, confronted. He resigned from office and gave an expose of how the state was run. Eventually, Oshiomhole and the like of Charles Idahosa joined forces to ensure that these godfathers were put aside.

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ON THE

With Bolanle Bolawole turnpot@gmail.com 07052631058

lord’sday Lessons from America

B

ETWEEN Barack Obama’s eight years’ ago and Donald Trump’s, whose victory did you consider more phenomenal? Obama’s presidential election victory was phenomenal and revolutionary in many respects.

He is an American of Black descent – his mother, white while his father, black, from Kenya. America may be the richest and most powerful nation in the world and the acclaimed bastion of democracy.

It isthe land of unlimited vistas and possibilities; hence the sobriquet “God’s own country.” America, all the same, is a land where racism thrives, even if in disguised and subtle forms. Now and again, this ghost that country and people have tried to bury rears its ugly head in public. It is a blight that toils and efforts have failed to completely submerge, even if they have somehow managed to conceal it. Racism receded largely from the open but dwells securely in the inner recesses of people’s hearts.

The statute books may have outlawed it and, technically, all may be deemed equal before the law but now and again we witness sad reminders that a sizeable number of whites are pretenders in this respect.

Away from prying eyes, they nurse reservations about the rightness or desirability of the egalitarian society they admit and profess openly. This lifestyle of an ostrich is another distinctive American way of life...until Obama appeared on the scene with his audacity of hope or so it seemed!

And it was really audacious for this “Black man” to think, even dream, of becoming the first black president of the United States. He might have been brilliant and might also have had many other things going right for him but not many gave him a chance until the lines began to fall in nice places for him, to quote the scriptures.

To cut a long story short, eight years’ ago, Obama, nay, America, made history.

America elected its first black president. It was audacious; it was phenomenal. Prophecy was fulfilled as it had been told many decades before by the Civil Rights activist and preacher, the assassinated Martin Luther King Jnr. Was this the dead knell of racism in America? The world hoped so.

Obama, in fact, went ahead four years’ after to win a second term but the undercurrents left no one in doubt that it would take more than the election of a black president for the ghost of racism to be fully exorcised in America. Call it a facade as racism’s legs kept popping out from beneath the ground in race-related white police brutality against blacks and people of colour, as they call them, all over the place. The election of Donald Trump by American voters last week is another sad and sordid reminder that it is not yet “Uhuru” for all true believers in the equality of races in America. That election was majorly about race.

It was phenomenal all the same. In a sense, it was a determined effort to reverse the Obama phenomenon; hence the battle cry of Trump was to “take back (our white) America” from those (the outsiders/ intruders/immigrants, legal or illegal, and their offspring/the people of colour) that

have usurped what belongs to the whites.

Trump’s rallying point was unmistakeable “To make America great again”, meaning that America has been denigrated, made less great by those who had taken it over, regardless that George Bush Jnr. left it in tatters for Obama and that Obama had largely salvaged it and returned it to the path of greatness again. The message was couched in languages that appear harmless but the underlining currents were unmistakeable.

The Trump election exposed the hypocrisy of the average white American; it also demonstrates to the genuine lovers of equality of races that they still have a hard road to travel and a long way to go if racial equality is to truly become the mantra of their society. Virtually everyone went up against Trump; still, he won. Why? I suspect that many of those who spoke against the man openly did not walk the talk. It was not possible to accept in the open what Trump stood for in that campaign but in their inner recesses they found nothing wrong with the message. If only they had the heart; if only they had little to lose politically like Trump - had his hate message backfired - they, too, would have done likewise. But it was politicallyincorrect, as they call it, to publicly touch Trump with a 10-mile long pole but once in the safe cocoon that secret balloting offered, they let the gene of race out of the bag without any fear of public censure or opprobrium. It is also easy to understand that many of those who spoke out against Trump publicly did not loathe his opponent, Hillary Clinton, less but it was deemed more politically-incorrect to take up an Establishment person like Hillary than do a similar thing to an outsider like Trump. In other words, they did not trust Hillary more than they trusted Trump. If I guess correctly, there were many who even thought a political neophyte like Trump could be much more easily tamed than a master of the game like Hillary.

Sunday Tribune

There are many useful lessons to take away from the American election. Whereas democracy has been described as the best form of government available unto mankind, people’s loss of confidence in it is growing. More and more voters are willing to try other options if they are available. Despite that Trump repeatedly assailed democracy; that did not turn people away from him. His railings against the system appeared to have endeared him more to those who hold the same system responsible for their plight. People’s distrust in mainstream politicians is growing.

The belief is growing that politicians cannot be trusted. Trump ran not as a politician but as a businessman; Hillary was the consummate politician, as they call it. Political parties are becoming less relevant in who wins or does not win elections. Despite that his party and important party men virtually abandoned him, Trump won. We may have entered the age of the mavericks for good or for worse. Today more than ever before, you need a message that is clear-cut and easily digestible by the people. Gone are the days of long epistles as manifestoes. You also need the messenger and both must align. The messenger must believe in the message and deliver it with panache and passion. Politics is getting more passionate and sentimental. Appealing to sentiments, even if base, is on the ascendancy. This does not appear any more to be the age of enlightenment or reason. The gift of the garb and of oratory is on the rise, again, for good or for worse. It helped Obama even as it had helped Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini before him. It has now helped Trump.

Your message must resonate with the people; however unrealistic and unachievable it may seem. Politicians these days must learn to speak directly to the people over and above the head of power brokers, godfathers, and the political mafia. If need be, swim against the tide. Be audacious like

Obama. Take on the Establishment like Trump. Bypass the party and its henchmen if need be and take your case directly to the people. That was how, eight years’ ago,OlusegunMimiko dared then President OlusegunObasanjo, left the ruling octopus, the PDP, pitched tent with the unknown Labour Party, took Ondo state by storm and everywhere, it was “Iroko, gbas’ibe” (Mimiko’s rallying cry). He uprooted the incumbent and became governor. AyodeleFayose performed a similar feat in 2014: Standing alone, taking on the powers-that-be; swimming against the tide; daring all obstacles and challenges; breaking all taboos and ultimately surviving where none gave him a chance. Truly, all politics is local; politicians must henceforth take this very much to heart.

Political decisions may have escaped from the boardrooms into the streets. Less emphasis is being placed in political parties these days; personalities are now on the ascendancy. Taking a cue from this, our Constitution should immediately accommodate independent candidacy. This way, we will be able to avoid the embarrassment that was KogiState as well as the ongoing debacle in OndoState. People are voting for change everywhere; disillusionment is driving people to take greater risks. Economic hardship especially is the graveyard of many governments, especially those who downplay its importance, as David Cameron appeared to have done in Britain and he burned his hand with BREXIT. President MuhammaduBuhari should watch it here. Trump may or may not make a good president; when Americans get to that river, they will cross it. For the moment, it is enough that he spoke to their fears and they listened and acted.

This was the same way the APC spoke to the fears of Nigerians last year and they listened and acted. Today, many are in deep regret; they will have their chance to speak loud and clear again in 2019.

The last election, however, has also shown that there are no perfect systems or voters anywhere. Technicalities can make or mar a candidate. The gruelling primariesand the alienation especially of the supporters of Hillary’s main challenger, Ben Sanders, took its toll. The American electoral system, where a candidate wins the popular vote but still loses the election, puzzles many while Trump could as well qualify as our own fawning OzumbaMbadiwe (aka “K.O. is okay”) or the vitriolic RemiFani-Kayode and his boss S. L. Akintola. The on-going street protests of “Trump is not our President” in many U. S. cities remind us of the protests we witness here after every election. Two events, however, poignantly stand out. One: Despite the aspersion cast its way by Trump, the election was free and fair. Two: The Buhari-type “baboon and monkey will be soaked in blood” incendiary statementis missing. Like Hillary and Obama said post-election and as ex-President Goodluck Jonathan demonstrated here last year, defeat is painful but the hallmark of statesmanship is to accept it with equanimity in the overarching interest of country and people.

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13 November, 2016

makeover

Sunday Tribune

Rita Okonoboh 08053789087 tribunemakeover@gmail.com

Getting the best from makeup products

ages. For eyeshadow, they lose their shine and come less prominent when used.

For Taiwo Yusuph also a Lagos-based beautician, Lagos, bronzer/highlighters do not usually come with expiry dates and they do not usually change co-

lour, unless it’s a fake product.

However, for some products, a person with sensitive skin may begin to react to the product, then you know it’s time for a change.

According to Damilola Ogunleye of a makeover outfit in Ibadan, Oyo State, for foundation and highlighters, especially those in the liquid form, they tend to dry up and then you know it’s time for a change. When these products dry up, they usually do not bring out the best when applied.

Additional report by Obiakor Ugochi, Zainab AbdulAzeez, Feyikemi Ogunleye and Oluwatoyosi Omisore.

Photo: www.pinterest.com

Officer (CEO) of a Lagos-based beauty outfit, Lagos State, notes that some makeup products come with expiry dates written on their bottles and casings.

Sometimes, they can be found at the bottom of the containers, on the leaflets or inside their pack-

Photo: www.condenast.co.uk

‘Some products have expiry dates on them’ Gladys Mbi, Chief Executive

Liquid foundation, blusher, bronzer, concealer and face powder past expiration dates can clog up pores with bacteria, which can cause irritations, breakouts and rashes.

Photo: www.bodyography.com

‘Products must be properly stored’ In the opinion of Morenikeji Ejalonibu a beautification, powder may be used for up to 12 months before it loses its value, that is, if properly kept and not exposed to water. If expired, it changes colour. For foundation, they can last up to six months before they can be changed, while blush can last as long as 12 months. Mascara should not be used beyond three months.

Photo: www.getluxury.com

it later. There’s this particular eyeshadow I’ve used for close to five years now and it’s still very okay for me.”

Interestingly, experts say it is not unusual to discover that some makeup products have no expiry dates on them, because of their nature. However, they shouldn’t be used for too long since they are chemical products.

Following the interaction with respondents, Makeover spoke with makeup experts on how long makeup products should last before they lose value.

Photo: www.milanicosmetics.com

‘W

E’RE all guilty of clinging on to lip and eye colours in the hope they come back into fashion but make-up can easily become a breeding ground for bacteria like staphylococcus aureus and staphylococcus epidermis. Beauty products that surround the eye hold the greatest risk of infection and can cause bacterial conjunctivitis and blepharitis, an inflammation of the eyelid.

‘Liquid foundation, blusher, bronzer, concealer and face powder past expiration dates can clog up pores with bacteria, which can cause irritations, break-outs and rashes.’

The above statement was published in Daily Mail in 2013 and credited to Emma Leslie, Beauty Editor at Escentual. com who carried out a survey on how long women kept makeup products and it was discovered that British women kept makeup products long after the expiry date.

For the fashion-conscious Nigerian lady, the situation is no different. According to a survey carried out by Makeover, many ladies confessed to keeping their makeup products with a majority of them ignorant of expiry dates of makeup products.

A respondent told Makeover that: “This is the first time I’ve actually thought about my makeup products having a shelf life and I use them every day. In fact, I feel odd when I do not use makeup. For me, it’s when they finish that I replace. Or if I see a product when I go shopping and I like it, then I replace. And even at that, I don’t throw the old one away because I know I may need

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With Rita Okonoboh tribunechurch@gmail.com tribunechurch@yahoo.com 08053789087

tribunechurch

As a man of God, scandals make me sit up —Bishop Idahosa

United Nations Peace Ambassadorial Award recipient, philanthropist, preacher and singer, Bishop Isaac Idahosa, is the Presiding Bishop of God First Ministries International, with headquarters in Lagos State. He shares his thoughts on national and religious issues with RITA OKONOBOH. Excerpts: sure such religious tensions will be reduced to the barest minimum.

W

HY did you decide to go into ministry?

It’s divine inclination. Nobody forced me into it. In fact, people were against it. They wondered why, as a mechanical engineer, I would rather tow the path of frustration. This was because in those days, pastors were viewed as hopeless people. Then, the gains seemed like nothing to write home about, especially for some of those pastors that were up there then. However, God is proving them wrong.

When you receive God’s persuasion, you don’t need man’s permission.

What if you were not in ministry?

I would have been nowhere. Because the greatest discovery is that of purpose, that is, the will of God for you and the greatest achievement is the fulfilment of that discovered purpose. So, if I was not in this will of God, I would have been nowhere.

A few years ago, you received the United Nations award as an ambassador for peace in the light of your contribution to the growth of humanity and peaceful religious coexistence.

When you look at the state of insecurity in the country, how does being the recipient of such an award make you feel?

Very bad. Insecurity in any part of the country affects all other sides of the country. So, it doesn’t give us joy that such things are invading the nation. You can only make progress where there is peace. And you can only make peace when there is common understanding, love for one another, love for

the nation, both for the leaders and followers and knowing the vision that the leaders carry and the ability to sell or market that vision. There is also the need for the followership to imbibe and contribute to seeing the manifestation of the manifesto of the leadership.

As a Christian leader, how would you advise fellow Christian leaders on encouraging peaceful coexistence?

It must be lived. You can preach what you know but you reproduce who you are. As a leader, one must engineer peace by encouraging peaceful coexistence from the family level. There must be peace at home. If there is peace at home, there will be peace in the church, and that transcends into the society.

You grew up in the North. With your firsthand experience, how would you assess the religious tension in that region?

It is lack of understanding and tolerance.

If we can tolerate what the Nigerian State stands for as a secular nation where everyone is allowed to practise what he/she believes, no matter the religious leaning, I’m

Nigerians will praise Buhari in 2017

—Primate Olayinka

Pg38

You’re from the SouthSouth. You grew up in the North. Why did you decide to have your church headquarters in the South-West: Lagos?

My first church was planted in the North, in Minna, Niger State to be precise on the 25th August, 1989, and I keep going there to pay homage because they have contributed immensely to the growth of the church. We even enjoy scholarships from the Niger State government. In fact, when I started the ministry 27 years ago, I was to go to Jos where I would have got a few people who would have helped me to bankroll the dream. However, God told me to go back to where I was brought up and let the first fruit come out from there. We have a regional headquarters there. However, it is where one is based that the headquarters is, and I’m based in Lagos.

It’s not strange for scandals to follow popular church leaders and you have not escaped it. When you hear such reports about people like you and other such ‘big’ pastors, how does it make you feel?

It makes me sit up. Two things determine your speed in life: what is pursuing you and what you are pursuing. Enemies are not walls; they’re doors to your next level. It’s not what happens to you that defines you, but your response. Scandals can be constructive or biased, that is, some scandals come through envy or what a person has ac-

We must always seek divine intervention —Revd Owa Pg37

tually done. If you really did what they said you did, then you make amends. Only great men make mistakes. The important thing is to ensure not to make same mistake again.

When scandals come, it is time to take stock and ask yourself questions: what is it that I’m doing that I shouldn’t do and vice versa.

Scandals help to move a person forward if viewed constructively and with a positive mindset. Scandals are like mirrors that help one make assessment, whether true or not.

Even the dead are talked about and against, how much more the living. It takes a mark to attract an eraser. So, if you’re making impact, get ready for the good and the bad.

Twenty-seven years ago, you established the church. No doubt, you have produced pastors and daughterchurches. With the increasing number of pastors in Nigeria, immorality seems to be on the rise. What is the church not doing right?

It’s for humanity to dig a well; it’s for divinity to cause it to bring forth water. It’s for us to preach, it’s for the Holy Spirit to convict. Some time ago, I was going to minister outside the country and someone told me that I was leaving Nigeria that needed the message for other lands. We must keep doing what we’ve been asked to do. The church cannot do enough and that doesn’t mean the church is not doing at all. We’re not the light of the church but the light of the world.

We’re not the salt of the church but the salt of the earth. So, we keep preaching while the Holy Spirit does the conviction.

You have showed your support for President Muhammadu Buhari’s reContinues on

pg37

Trump: Expect more surprises soon —Ayodele Pg36

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

With Olaide Sokoya ollydesanmi@yahoo.com 08074497425

churchnews

The church must hold leaders accountable —Cleric Biola Azeez - Ilorin

R

EVEREND Nathan Chiroma of Jos Theological Seminary, Plateau State, has said that the church must be ready to hold public office holders accountable in order to ensure that they respond to the current economic situation in the country.

Delivering a speech with the theme: “The Church’s Response to Nigeria’s

Present Economic Situation” at the 52nd graduation ceremony of ECWA Theological Seminary, Igbaja, Kwara State, last weekend, Reverend Chiroma said what Nigeria needed to survive the present economic hardship was selfless leaders.

“The reason we are in

this big mess in Nigeria is because of greed. The church must be able to address the problem of greed. But for our greed, the resources in Nigeria is enough to sustain us and even the whole of Africa without foreign aid. As the church, we must address issues relating to greed

in our lives before we can respond to the problem of economic recession in the country,” he stated.

Also speaking, the Chairman, Governing Board of the College, Elder Samson Ameh Opaluwah, prayed that God would grant the graduating students the grace to be agents of trans-

formation in the country.

“Unless the country returns to God and depends on His word, in addition to proficiently deploying our talents and abilities in all the traffic lane of life, we shall continue to run in circles without direction and without progress,” he said.

Earlier, the College Pro-

Church should add value to people’s lives —Akinfenwa

Bishop urges govt to promote people-friendly policies

Celestine IhejirikaUmuahia THE Bishop of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Diocese of Ibadan, Most Reverend Joseph Akinfenwa, has charged his Abia counterpart, Most Reverend Ikechi Nwosu and Dean, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, to continue to add value to people’s lives.

This was the submission at the thanksgiving/reception ceremony held in honour of Archbishop Nwosu to mark his new elevation as Dean of the Church of Nigeria.

Bishop Akinfenwa, who was the guest preacher at the event held at St. Stephen‘s Cathedral, Umuahia, Abia State, on Saturday called on members of the church to continue to pray for Most Revd Nwosu whose elevation he described as well deserved.

In their separate messages at the event, Chairman, Abia State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and member of the church, Chief Johnson Onuigbo, thanked members for their support and prayed for god’s guidance for the new Dean.

Chairman, fund-raising sub-committee, Sir Gabriel Onyedilefu; elderstatesman in the church and Head of Glaono Enterprises, Umuahia, Sir Ebenezer Offor; retired federal permanent secretary, Sir Mac John Nwaobiala; Vice Chancellor, Abia State University, Uturu, Prof.

E.U. Ikonne; Provost, College of Medicine, Gregory University, Uturu, Sir (Prof.) Joshua Ogbonnaya, among others, all appreciated God for Nwosu’s elevation.

vost, Reverend Stephen Baba, thanked God for using dedicated people in the growth and development of the school, which he said had made the college to be in the forefront of biblical theology and pastoral ministry in Africa and the world over.

The college graduated 296 students across all programmes, out of which 28 were awarded Doctor of Ministry in church administration, pastoral care and pulpit ministry respectively.

Former Abia State governor, Mr Orji Kalu (left) greeting the papal nuncio, Archbishop Augustine Kassuja (right). With them is former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (middle), Mr Chuka Udom, at the sendforth ceremony of Kassuja, held in Abuja recently. PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER DANLADI

Trump: Expect more surprises soon —Ayodele

By Kehinde Oyetimi FOUNDER and head of the INRI Evangelical and Spiritual Church, Lagos, Primate Elijah Ayodele, who predicted the emergence of United States of America President-elect, Donald Trump, in November 2014, has said the world should be prepared for more surprises as such.

The cleric stated this in a recent interaction with TribuneChurch, in which he noted that Trump’s emergence was fulfilment of divine prophecy.

Primate Ayodele had in an interview published by TribuneChurch on November 23rd, 2014, stated that, “Obama’s party might lose the forthcoming election. Let us pray against bloodbath in the world.”

Also speaking on the expectations of the Chibok girls at the time, Primate Ayodele had predicted that “some would be released on negotiation,” noting that the government needs prayer for directives on the issue of negotiation. It is

prayer we need in Nigeria.

Involving America, Chad and other countries is just a waste of time; they are all sycophants.”

In the recent interaction

with TribuneChurch, the cleric thus called on all Christians, and all peoples to continue to intensify prayers for Nigeria and the world as God was still go-

ing to come up with more surprises in the near future. He called on people to be very careful especially when it came to prophecies.

We need moral, spiritual rebirth in Nigeria —Cleric *Says ‘Trump’s election will show God’s power’ Sam Nwaoko-Ado Ekiti THE founder and General Overseer of Holy Trinity Authority Prophetic Church International, Prophet James Olatunji Omitade, has charged Christians to brace up to their call, saying “we need moral and spiritual rebirth.”

Omitade, who spoke with TribuneChurch in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, also said the recent election of Donald Trump as the next American president was an avenue through which God would display His power in and love for Nigeria.

Omitade said the election of Trump “may spell doom for America, especially the country’s long-standing dominance in world politics, security, economy and other socio-political affairs.”

The cleric said: “the country needs serious prayers this time and Americans

must pray really hard so that the country will not face challenges, a point I have been telling my congregation for a number of months now.”

Speaking on this year’s Holy Ghost Day programme entitled “Power of the Comforter,” held at the church on Saturday, he said “the church as the body of Christ needs more discipline and we must go back to God and return to the church as of old.

“We need moral and spiritual discipline. When we have achieved this, then the power of the Comforter will yield in our lives.”

He added that church leaders were in need of spiritual discipline, “and with discipline, the body of Christ will move more, achieve more and be better for all humanity.

“The leader of the church occupies a sensitive position

that could only be maintained by the grace of God. It is only the power of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter that will constrict him to the ‘straight and narrow way’ of the word of God.” He lamented that for several decades, “the Christian leadership has been battered alongside the church,” adding that “most shepherds have been tossed here and there by the whims and caprices of men; the ‘big’ people in the congregation and even by the approval of conduct, popularly espoused by fellow shepherds whether far or near.”

He advocated the equal treatment of all members of the congregation by clerics, saying “the church functions as the aggregate of numerous individuals who have voluntarily surrendered, submitted and subjected their lives to the leadership of Jesus.”

THE General Overseer of Save and Serve Christ Family Church, Abanla, Ibadan, Oyo State, Bishop Jide Orire, has enjoined the Federal Government to initiate policies and programmes that would bring smiles to the faces of Nigerians.

Orire stated this in a press statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, to herald the church’s 12th annual camp meeting coming up in December.

He said the people needed succour, relief and renewed hope and the only way for this to become reality was for the government to meet the aspirations and yearnings of the people through economic policies which would yield immediate dividends.

The cleric, however, said those setting the collective destiny of the country backward would be exposed and disgraced except they repented and sought God’s forgiveness for the trouble they had caused the innocent.

Orire also called on the Federal Government to be more committed in dealing with security, corruption and infrastructural issues.

According to him, Nigeria needed strong and credible institutions in order to move forward and enjoy sustainable development.

He stressed the need for Christians to be hopeful especially when confronted with life’s challenges.

“As followers of Christ, we must be sustained by hope.

But if we hope for what we do not see, we keep on waiting for it with endurance. It will surely come with faith,” Orire posited.

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

We must always seek divine intervention —Rev’d Owa Reverend Peter Folorunso Owa is the General Overseer of Christ Revival Miracle Church. In this interview with OLAIDE SOKOYA, he speaks on happenings in Christendom and the nation, as well as the church’s annual event, ‘Fire Revival 2016’, among other issues. Excerpts: not comprehend the mishaps the country recorded this year; honestly it is too much.

I think it is time we all embrace righteous and holy lives.

What do you think has gone wrong with the country?

It is not applicable to Nigeria alone. What is happening all over the world today are signs of the end time, and a clear indication that the second coming of Jesus Christ is near. The scripture states in the book of Matthew 24 that: ‘In the end time, nations will rise against nations; various diseases will come into existence....’ The secret is that there is nothing man can about this than to ask God for intervention.

T

HE church’s annual event, Fire Revival 2016, clocked 30 this year. How did it start?

I thank God for the success of this year’s event. It is a programme designed by God. The programme had been an avenue of deliverance for people. It has raised hope for the underprivileged. I thank God for the divine and great testimonies recorded in years past and this year’s event.

The truth is that people want to be delivered, especially from various problems they are battling with, which they find difficult to tell their relatives or even their pastors.

The secret is that Satan has various ways of tormenting people, but God has brought this programme to deliver people from the captivity of the devil. I want to return all glory to God for the success recorded at this year’s programme tagged ‘Mighty Hand of God.’ When you consider the happenings from the beginning of the year, how would you describe 2016?

This year has recorded a lot of problems and calamities; yet people have persevered and trusted God for change. In fact, I can-

‘Christian unity is dependent on clerics’ Continued from

pg35

solve to fight corruption. How would you react to the notion that the move has been selective?

As long as people have mouths, they must talk. It’s a free world and people are entitled to their opinions. In the long run, we have been able to save some money and recover some properties. So, that is to tell you how much corruption has crept in if the ‘selective’ anti-corruption drive has been able to gather that much. If ‘selective,’ imagine the wholeness. Let’s watch and believe in the system. Let’s make constructive criticism.

Let’s talk. Not talking is talking because evil thrives when good men don’t say anything. People should actively participate in politics. Whoever perceives that the fight against corruption has been selective should make that known through the appropriate quarters.

How would you assess the present administration?

So far, so good. When there’s life, there’s hope. Changes are inevitable. With the recent revelation by Mrs Aisha Buhari about some of the ministers being unknown to her husband, if that is really the situation, it is too bad. A man must be responsible for his actions. It is an understatement to say

people are suffering. People call for help every time. Recently, in church, I observed a woman who was not moving as the Holy Spirit was moving. I didn’t need prophetic eyes to know she had a need. She seemed absent-minded in church. I asked what was wrong with her and she said she had been unable to pay her children’s school fees. I offered to help and immediately, she loosened up. When God blesses someone, it is expected such person becomes a blessing to others.

How would you advise Christians and Nigerians on creating a better nation?

The prayer in John 17 is still not answered – “That they may be one. The unity of Christians is largely determined by the unity of the clergy. We may have different doctrines but we preach one Christ, one Lord, one cross and one resurrection. We must see ourselves as our brothers’ keepers. We must team up to ensure that the teaching of the gospel cannot go wrong. Let our common factors bring us together. That’s all about salvation. There is no other gospel than that.

Doctrines have set us apart but the teaching of the gospel – his suffering, crucifixion, Continues on

pg38

How did you come about the theme, for this year’s anniversary, ‘Mighty Hand of God?’ This is to show and let people witness how powerful God is, because he is the mighty Man in battle; He is the unchangeable changer and He is also a miraculous God. What should people expect from this revival?

People should expect God’s hands in every area of their lives once they come to the revival, be it financially, spiritually, academically, physically, and morally. In fact, whatever their problems may be, they should come with them because God will lay His holy hands on them.

What is your greatest testimony since you started this programme?

All testimonies are great. However, there is the testimony of a woman with damaged womb whom doctors had written off, telling her she couldn’t have children. God blessed her, gave her another womb, and she was able to have children.

What are some challenges you have experienced as a cleric?

The challenges are quite enormous. There are spiritual, financial, moral and physical challenges but God has been faithful.

What is your advice to young pastors and Nigerians in general?

I would advise young pastors to be more prayerful. For Nigerians, I would advise them to live as one and not give room for war.

38 tribunechurch

13 November, 2016

Nigerians will praise Buhari in 2017 —Primate Olayinka

asked the person sitting beside me if he also heard the voice but he said he didn’t. I told my mother about it when I got to Ilesa. She said she was not surprised because there was a prophecy before my birth, and she said I was only fulfilling the prophecy. That was how my journey into ministry started.

I went to Erimo Mountain, where I fasted and prayed for seven days. After the seventh day, I returned to Kano but I couldn’t stay long because of the Maitatsine crisis in Kano in 1980. So, I had to leave for Lagos.

It was in Lagos that God finally revealed the mission to me. I was led to Ibadan in 1977 to occupy this worship centre that we are currently using. I have been in Ibadan since then and God has used my ministry to bless many souls within and outside the country.

Primate Olawale Olayinka is the founder of King David Kingdom of God Church, otherwise known as Miracle Palace. Olayinka in this interview with SEGUN ADEBAYO speaks on his ministry and God’s plans for Nigeria in 2017.

H

OW did your journey into the prophetic ministry start?

I would say that I had been called by God before I was born. You may not understand what I mean by that, but the truth is that God chose me as one of His own before my mother gave birth to me.

There was a prophecy that was revealed to my mother shortly after she conceived me.

My mother told me how she came in contact with a cleric who told her that she was going to give birth to a prophet, who would take God’s work across the length and breadth of the country.

Did your mum tell you where?

The prophecy was revealed to my mum, according to her on the popular Erimo Mountain in 1948. She said that the prophet said because she came to the mountain to pray, God revealed to him that she would give birth to a boy, who would grow up to be a minister of God; somebody who had been destined to lead the people of God on a prophetic journey. Shortly after the proph-

ecy, my mother became pregnant after she had waited on God for many years. After my birth, I was taken out of my father’s house to my grandmother’s house. I was born in Ilesa in an area called Ikoji, in Osun State. I had my primary and secondary school education in Osun State, after which I proceeded to Kano State. I lived in Kano for a long time.

I was a car dealer for many years and I also worked with Brisco Limited. All those years when I was working, I had a lot of challenges, especially when it got to the point where God asked me to stop working and join His ministry. I tried to avoid God’s calling for a long time, but the more I tried to run from God, the harder things got for me. I lost everything I had worked for. All my cars were sold and everything I had got lost. It was a very difficult moment in my life.

What year did God call you into His ministry?

God called me in the year 1979.

How did you know it was God’s voice?

‘Good leadership should create opportunities out of nothing’ Continued from

pg37

death, burial and resurrection is enough for us. We as leaders must come together, then membership will follow.

Your ministry targets a lot of youths.

How would you advise the current generation of youths on embracing the gospel the more?

The church must come up with programmes that go beyond what attracts them. The church must not be dogmatic but dynamic. With television, social media and others, youths these days have so much begging for their attention, so the church must do something more striking. See the example of the burning bush and Moses.

The gospel must catch their attention. That way, we can reach them. We must sit with the youths. For instance, we bring gospel artistes and comedians to the church. We also organise competitions and trainings.

We also provide support for their education.

It goes beyond saying ‘Jesus love you.’ We need to prove it.

It is not uncommon for people to assume many things about you. What are a few things people don’t know about you?

One, some say I’m proud. They say I’m not accessible, which is wrong. Two, some say I’m very wealthy, that I’m a billionaire. I receive it in Jesus’ name.

Some of the Chibok girls were released recently. How would you view the situation?

My take is that thank God the girls have been released. Initially the swap report was denied and later accepted. However, what makes us so sure that another set of girls would not be kidnapped? We just pray for more wisdom for our leadership. As the girls were released, there was a bombing. It is really sad. However, we need to know that the remaining girls are safe. We could strike a better deal for the freedom of the girls. We

pray for more wisdom for such deals.

As a prophet, has God told you anything about Nigeria?

Nigeria would bounce back. Definitely.

How soon is left in God’s hands. These first four years will be very rough. I’m not seeing recession disappearing soon as is being said because there are no structures on ground for dealing with recession. Although things seem to be like it’s the worst but when it gets the hottest, God shows up. God loves Nigeria; it’s a prophetic nation. However, we must not take God for granted. The foundation matters. We must sit down to understand what is really going on, especially at the foundation. The various calls for disintegration must be addressed. The national conference report can also be looked into.

We should sit down and take stock so we can make headway. People are suffering and it doesn’t seem like things will get better soon.

I was one of those pastors who said Buhari would win. Good leadership should create opportunities out of nothing. They should get like minds to get a way out. Blame games and aspersions are not the solution. After one year, we should face reality and look for a way forward.

You’re from the South South. What solutions would you recommend for addressing the problem of militancy there?

I would recommend dialogue. The greatest wars are won by dialogue. The Avengers have their reasons for destroying what is in their domain. They’ve raised concerns about the fact that oil money is used to develop other areas while their region is left to rot. I would say that is not a bad cause. But is that enough for them to destroy those pipelines?

The reason the Niger Delta is important today is dependent much on the oil. The moment that dries up, it is over. Maybe they thought they couldn’t reach the government by mere talking. However, I would recommend dialogue. That is the way forward any day.

Sunday Tribune

Nigeria will begin to smile as from next year February. Those who have condemned Buhari will sing his praises On that fateful day, I was coming from Kano, I was in the car and I heard a voice that said to me: “son, now is the time for you to work for me.” I was confused and

Who and what we are THE inspiration for this article is from and a response to a reader of this column’s SMS – Mr Fash. Let me seize this opportunity to thank the various people who send in SMS messages and emails in response to this column. Your words of encouragement and commendation are greatly appreciated. You are the reason for the existence of this column. Thank you.

We want to look at the issue of who we are and what we are. Many people mix up who they are with what they are, and indeed, the difference between the two can be very blurred if one is not careful.

We must be careful to know who we really are. Many times, we confuse who we are with other things. Who we are talks of our personality and our uniqueness as a human being- these are the things that makes us distinct and different from other people. Who we are is a complex mix of our behavior, temperaments, emotional and mental make-up and other things which all contribute to make us a unique and special person. This is what defines us as a person and it is the basis of our personality and identity. Who we are is our personal identity card.

Many times, people want us to be who we are not. They want us to conform to a particular mould which is a recipe for disaster. When we try to live contrary to who we are we live a lie that might please others but will hand frustration to us.

“We prefer to go deformed and distorted all our lives rather than not resemble the portrait of ourselves which we ourselves have first drawn. It’s absurd. We run the risk of warping what’s best in us. “ Andre Gide Who we are must not be confused with

What do you make out of the current hardship Nigerians are facing and do you think there is a way out?

God told me that Nigeria will be great under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. Things may be hard now but Nigerians should be patient and wait on the Lord’s promise. God revealed to me that He was behind Buhari’s emergence as the President of Nigeria. A lot of people have been complaining bitterly about his policies but I strongly believe that he means well for Nigerians and he would do that which is the best for us. Nigerians should be patient as they would begin to reap the positive results of Buhari’s policy as from February 2017.

Nigeria will begin to smile as from next year February. Those who have condemned Buhari will sing his praises; that’s what God revealed to me about this government and Nigeria. If you doubt me, wait till 2017 and come back to tell me these things I told you today are not true. There is a way out for Nigerians. I am already seeing the change, but it would manifest fully in 2017.

Your Life Counts

by Tunde Jaiyebo 0803 406 2013

what we are or what we do. When we try to define our person and personality by other things we will run into an identity crisis and we set ourselves up for a life of confusion, crisis and calamity. What we are has to do mainly with our assignments, occupation, careers and status and these things should not define us. What we do can be transient but who we are is a more fundamental and foundational matter. A man who defines himself by what he does will lose his identity when that job or assignment is taken away from him.

Who we are is something we can control of if we determine to but what we are, many times, is usually out of our control.

Our status, position, job, career are all not directly under our control so defining ourselves by these things is like building on sinking sand. We are personally responsible for who we are but what we are is dependent majorly on factors extraneous to us. The good news is that what we are can be tampered with or lost but who we are is something that we must understand no man can destroy or take from us.

Who we are should form the basis of what we are. It should determine what we pour our life into. Our lives can only really count when we live our lives in line with who we are and not what we are.

“Your identity and your success go hand in hand. Many people sacrifice their identities by not doing what they really want to do. And that’s why they’re not successful.” Lila Swell

39 tribunechurch livingword

Sunday Tribune

dawnofanewera with Most Revd J.O. Akinfenwa

By Bishop David Oyedepo Call 7747546-8; or e-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

Bishop of Ibadan Anglican Diocese

Understanding the Divine Nature in the Word! (2) LAST week, we established that God’s nature is inherent in His Word. In this week teaching, we shall examine what God’s nature is made up of, which include: • God is the Embodiment of Divine Love: God is love personified and because His nature resides in the Word, as we study same, we grow in love and that in turn establishes our breakthroughs in life. The Bible says: But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (1 Corinthians 2:9; see also Ephesians 3:17-20; 1 John 4:16-17).

We understand from the above scripture that everyone operating in the pure love of God is ordained a living wonder, a pathfinder, a pacesetter and a trailblazer.

That is what makes the love nature of God the greatest spiritual force in the Kingdom and our master key to a world of unlimited breakthroughs.

However, it is important to know that delightsome obedience to God’s Word is the biblical proof of our love for Him. As it is written: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 14:21).

If we truly love God, we will delightsomely obey Him, the prevailing circum-

13 November, 2016

stances notwithstanding.

• God is the embodiment of divine secrets: God is the custodian of Kingdom secrets that establishes stars on earth.

Concerning Daniel, the Bible says: Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven (Daniel 2:19; see also Deuteronomy 29:29; Job 29:4-18; Daniel 2:16-23).

When Daniel manifested God’s revealed secrets before King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, the Bible says: Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and worshipped Daniel, and commanded that they should offer an oblation and sweet odours unto him (Daniel 2:46).

We must recognise that every star in the Kingdom is a product of divine secrets.

Therefore, as believers, when the world is trading business secrets, let’s engage Kingdom secrets and watch God distinguish us as He changes our levels, supernaturally.

Are you born again? This means, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you haven’t, you can do so as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood.

Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!”

The Church: A called-out people THIS is where the Christian is radically different from every other person. Everybody else seeks something earthly, but the Lord has called us out of earthly pursuits as life focus, and he asks us to seek first the kingdom of God. No wonder Paul, while admonishing the Philippians to avoid sinful conduct, said: Philippians 3:20 states: For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: At another place, he wrote in Ephesians 2:5-7: Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

In other words, the reason Jesus has called us out is that he wants to show the world something through us. What is that thing? Apostle Paul calls it “the exceeding riches of his grace”. It is this radiation of the exceeding riches of his grace that the Lord refers to as being fruitful in John 15: 1 – 5. It is living on earth as if we are already in heaven. The more we manifest Christlikeness, the more fruitful we are for the kingdom, and the Lord shall prune us to bear even more fruit. But if we do not show Christ to the world, He would count us as unfruitful branches, and he may cut us off.

It was that same thing – God’s purpose for calling us out – that Peter the Apos-

tle was referring to when he wrote to the saints of the dispersion. He said to them: 1 Peter 2:9-10 states: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

As we proceed into the year that we described as a new year last month, let us realize that we are, and live as new people.

We are not the same as the people of the world. Jesus Christ has called us out of the world.

We do not have the same nature.

We do not have the same destiny.

We are not headed towards the same destination.

Therefore, we cannot be pursuing the same objectives. We cannot be manifesting the same character traits.

This is important because the things that we see around us in our politics and in many other sectors of national life show clearly that under pressure, many Christians forget that they are Christians. They start acting like those who never met the Lord. Some even act worse than godless people. They simply forget that they have been called out to bring glory to Christ, and to the kingdom of God. To be continued next week

theapostolicmessage

By Pastor (Dr) G.O. Olutola JP. President, The Apostolic Church Nigeria and LAWNA Territorial Chairman 08023063070, 08034013593; E-mail: chairman@taclawna.org

“But his mother kept these sayings in her heart” (Luke 2:51) THE topic centres on two principal actors, Mary and Jesus Christ who played major role in the salvation of the whole human race. The Gospel according to Luke records that Jesus was called by the spirit of the Lord to bring good news to the poor: Luke 4:18 (KJV) “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised” The gospel of Luke is filled with a concern for people with all kinds of need.

The gospel of Luke is a book of Joy. We now want to examine roles played by Mary in the Salvation of human race.

We are not considering Mary’s role in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ so that people could worship her, for only God must be worshipped: Matt.4:10 (KJV) “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve.”

But that Mary could be a shining example to contemporary women, mothers, prospective mothers and ministers’ wives in cultivating Godly children.

A. What are the sayings that Mary pondered in her heart? (regarding the birth of Christ) 1. “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. The

Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end”. Luke 2:31-33 2. “How will this be? Mary asked the angel, “Since I am a virgin? “The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered, “May your word to me be fulfilled”(Lk 2.3438) Then the angel left her, “But His mother kept the sayings in her heart” The sayings Mary kept in her heart means: a. She pondered on the sayings. b. She weighed the sayings in her heart. c. She kept the sayings in her heart. d. She revolved on the sayings in her heart. e. She did abide in the sayings. f. She was giving to each circumstance its just importance, and anxiously seeking what it might indicate respecting her child.

According to the sayings above, Mary pondered on the following things: i. How she had found favour in God’s sight by giving birth to Jesus ii. The greatness of Jesus, how he would become the Most High. iii. How the Lord will give him the throne of his father David. iv. How the birth will come to pass since she was a virgin.

To be continued next week

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13 November, 2016

language&style

by Samson Dare 0805 500 1770 samsonadare@yahoo.co.uk

Of rent, other, and order

S

AMPLE 1: “That same morning reports also rented the internet of his attempted suicide on the Lekki/Ikoyi link bridge and it took the duo of Peter Okoye and Banky W to get him off the suicide act.”(Tiwa Savage and Teebillz: A Matter of Ego, The Nation, May 8, 2016) We are interested in the form and use of the word rented which occurs in the following context: “reports also rented the internt”. This word, its appropriate usage and its misapplication have engaged our attention several times in this place before. It would seem that reporters have not benefited sufficiently from such efforts. What is the problem with this word as used in this context? How do we use the word correctly?

In answering these questions we would not shrink from rehashing some of our earlier presentations on the subject.

The verb from which the form rented is supposed to derive is rend, meaning to break through violently, to tear apart, to make a loud, deafening noise. The form rented has been presented by the reporter as the past form of rend.

However, there can be no mistake about the fact that the writer’s head is racked by confusion regarding the forms rend, rent and rented. There is the verb rent, meaning to take and use for some time, say an apartment, a facility, a vehicle, etc, for a fee.

The forms of that verb are: rent, rents, renting and rented.

Usage examples: 1) She rents a car every week for that purpose.

2) He has been renting out his father’s houses for the past five years. 3) The facility was rented for five hundred thousand naira. 4) I have not rented any house since I secured this job; the company has been providing accommodation. 5) The university has been renting facilities from the company.

The noun form of that verb remains rent: 1) She always takes a loan to pay her rent. 2) When is your rent due? 3) Rents have gone up astronomically since the increase in the prices of petroleum products. 4) Is the house for rent? 5) We pay an annual rent of one million naira.

We need, however, to distinguish the various forms of the verb rent from the various forms of the verb rend. The verb rend has the following forms: rend, rends, rent, rending. As we have noted, this verb means to tear violently apart, break into pieces with violence, to utter loud, deafening noise. Usage examples: 1) Every night, the noise of carousing men rends the air.

2) When the president arrived, shouts of ‘APC’ rent the air. 3) A hefty branch of the huge tree was rent by the storm. 4) Heartrending stories of death and destruction were told by the hapless returnees. 5) Her loving and innocent heart was rent by a bitter disappointment. 6) It was the tradition of the ancient Hebrews to rend their clothes as a sign of penitence. 7) The rocky hill was rent by an earthquake. 8) It was a terrible crash in which the vehicle was rent into two.

It is important to note that the past tense of rend is not rented but rent; the past participle is not rented but rent.

It is also important to note the difference between rend and render. The following sentences are defective: 1) We are *rending an account before the end of the financial year. 2) She narrated a soul-*rendering story of how her husband and children were brutally murdered. 3) He collapsed while he was *rending a song. 4) That sad development *rendered her heart. 5) Increased technology seems to be *rending many workers redundant.

Those sentences are re-presented as follows with the appropriate word replacing the wrong one in each case: 1a) We are rendering an account before the end of the year. 2a) She narrated a soul-rending story of how her husband and children were brutally murdered. 3a) He collapsed while he was rendering a song. 4a) That sad development rent her heart. 5a) Increased technology seems to be rendering many workers redundant.

At any rate, let the form rent replace rented in the context under review.

Sample 2: “One of the discussants, a popular blogger, Noble Igwe, however maintained that the giant brewery still has a lot to do in the area of awareness so that consumers will restrict themselves to moderate drinking in other to benefit from the nutritional contents of the alcoholic beverage.”(Experts Link Healthy Lifestyle to Beer Consumption, The Nation, July 10, 2016)

The expression that attracts our attention is in other to which occurs in the context, “restrict themselves to moderate drinking in other to benefit from the nutritional contents.” This expression is clearly confused with in order to which is the appropriate one for the context. Again, this issue has engaged our attention repeatedly on this page and it would amount to reinventing the wheel if we do not exercise the freedom to appropriate the fruits of our earlier efforts. That freedom is hereby exercised.

Some Nigerian users of English find it difficult to differentiate in pronunciation between the words order and other, thus carrying the phonological confusion into the idiomatic and syntactic usage.

Now read the following sentences: 1) The Treasury Single Account (TSA) was introduced in order to prevent public officers from exceeding their spending limits. 2) Nigerian languages and cultures are being taught in public schools in order to wean our citizens from unhealthy attachment to foreign languages and culture. 3) Regular parents-teachers meetings are held in order to foster a sustained dialogue between parents and teachers. 4) Politicians hold their meetings at night in order to prevent other people from having access to their information. 5) The pregnant woman was immediately subjected to surgery in order to prevent her from laboring too much. 6) The coach subjected his team to regular rigorous training in order to guarantee a brilliant international outing. 7) A lot of stones and cement were used in order to give the building a strong foundation. 8) He told so many lies in order to present himself as a man of integrity. 9) Many advertisements were placed in newspapers in order to generate goodwill for the organisation. 10) Many more hands were employed in order to cope with the volume of production this season requires.

The word order can be used in a variety of other ways that should help highlight the difference between it and the word other. Now read the following sentences: 1) It is the constitutional duty of the police to maintain law and order. 2) People will be attended to in the order in which they arrived. 3) The order of service is contained in the pamphlets distributed to the worshippers. 4) No particular order is followed in the way doctors attended to their patients. 5) The chief executive has given an order which cannot be countermanded. 6) The restriction order in that part of the country has been lifted. 7) Since his assumption of office, the president has been trying to put things in order. 8) The machine is out of order and it will require a huge sum of money to fix it. 9) It may interest you to note that I don’t take orders from just anybody. 10) The company has placed an order for a new generator. 11) The army General ordered his men to leave the city. 12) Students were ordered to stay away from the venue of the meeting.

Next we illustrate the usage of the word other. The word can be used in a number of different senses. Read the following sentences: 1) Apart from excessive cash in circulation, there are other factors responsible for inflation. 2) Apart from Christianity and Islam, there are other important religions in the world.

3) The first gentleman seems to be more responsible than the other two. 4) His father had other children by another wife. 5) There are many other things we need to discuss. 6) The other day he was saying something I didn’t quite understand. 7) I see no reason why the two friends should be quarrelling with each other. 8) There are many other books on the same subject. 9) There are situations other than this in which we can encounter similar challenges. 10) We live on the other side of the street.

11) The other false assumption is that life will go on forever. 12) My uncle’s other properties are in Abuja. 13) Some men discriminate against women. In other words, they feel they are superior to women. 14) Soldiers need to understand that this is a democracy and not military dictatorship. In other words, they should learn to submit themselves to civil authority. 15) Parents have a vital role to play in the moral upbringing of their children.

In other words, parents should never leave the spiritual and moral destiny of their children entirely in the hands of teachers.

At any rate, the expression in order to should replace in other to in the context under consideration.

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rammar lesson

Comma: One little makes all the difference THERE are lots of jokes and other illustrations of how important commas are. They have the potential to alter the meaning of a sentence completely, as the next few examples show.

One humorous illustration of what difference a comma makes is as follows: A comma is the difference between “What is this thing called love?” and “What is this thing called, love?”

“What is this thing called love?” (without the comma) is a rhetorical question and a paraphrase of the lyric of a popular song by Queen (Crazy Little Thing Called Love), but add a comma before the “love”, and you turn it into a question that one might ask one’s other half (addressing them as “love”, a term of endearment) when asking what an object (a “little thing”) is called.

Commas save lives Various jokes play on the importance of commas by pointing out that they can “save lives”. See the difference between versions one and two below: Some people enjoy cooking, their families, and their dogs.

Some people enjoy cooking their families and their dogs.

The first one, correctly punctuated, provides a list of things people enjoy.

Remove the punctuation, and you would be understood to enjoy cooking your family and dog for dinner.

Another joke that highlights the importance of adequate punctuation in English is: “Let’s eat, Grandma.”

With the comma, these words indicate that the speaker is talking to their grandma and suggesting that they eat dinner. Watch what happens when you remove the comma: “Let’s eat Grandma.”

Without the comma, the speaker is suggesting that they eat their grandma!

There’s also a popular internet meme depicting seals photoshopped onto a nightclub dancefloor. The caption is “Stop clubbing, baby seals”, with the subtitle, “Once again, punctuation makes all the difference”. That’s because when you remove the comma, it stops being about seals in nightclubs and starts being rather more brutal.

Source: Oxfors-royale.co.uk

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13 November, 2016

Sunday Tribune

Sunday Tribune 13 November, 2016 42 40TH ANNUAL EREKE DAY FARMERS’ EXHIBITION SPONSORED BY MASTER MEATS AND AGRO PRODUCTION COMPANY, IKENNE, OGUN STATE.

IDA President & Community Leaders @ THE Opening Ceremony of Ereke 2016 Farmers Exhibition on 04/11/2016

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo exchanging pleasantaries with Dr. Adedapo Onafowokan, while others looked on.

Mr. Deon Comradie (middle), Managing Director, Master Meats and Agro Production Company Ikenne, Rev.( Dr.) Kayode Odubela (second left); Venerable Aderemi Onajole (right) and others with some of the products on display.

Rev. Kayode Odubela taking the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo through the Master Meats stand with various products on display.

Bulls on Cattle Feedlots program at Entry and Harvest points. See the massive difference.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife being joined by other stakeholders to cut the cake marking 40th Annual Ereke Day celebration at Obafemi Awolowo Square, Ikenne-Remo, Ogun State.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his wife, and dignitaries at 40th Annual Ereke Day celebration.

Cross-Section of trainees sponsored by Master Meats.

43

news

13 November, 2016

End insurgency, family of slain soldier charges FG Muhammad Sabiu - Kaduna

Head of Operations, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ogere Remo Unit, Ogun State, CRC Akinwunmi Olaluwoye (second right); the Vicar, Christ Anglican Church, Ogere, Venerable F.E.O Olojede (third right); A.S Ajiboye (fourth left); and others, during the ember months campaign at the church.

PHOTO: DARE ADEKANMBI.

THE family of Lt. Col. Mohammed Abu Ali, who was killed at Malam Matori

by Boko Haram insurgents, has charged the Federal Government to end the insurgency so that soldiers in the battle field can reunite with their families.

The family made their position known while receiving the leadership of the Nigeria Fallen Heroes Project 2017 led by Kenneth Ibe Kalu at their family house in Kaduna, on Saturday.

Speaking on behalf of the

Govt didn’t pay ransom for Chibok girls’ release, Army says Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters surrender in Chad —Sources

T

HE Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has denied that government paid ransom to secure the release of 21 Chibok girls recently released by the Boko Haram sect, describing the story that government paid the terrorists to release the girls as “unsubstantiated and quite unfortunate.”

A story published in a national daily (not Nigerian Tribune), had maintained that the terrorists were paid ransom to release the girls, proceeds of which they used in procuring more arms to perpetrate more attacks in the North-East region of recent.

But the Army, in a statement signed by its Acting Director of Defence Information, Brigadier-General Rabe Abubakar, maintained that the ransom claim was untrue, noting that with the report, it had become clear that some sections of the media “continue to undermine this modest effort of the government, security agencies and other stakeholders.”

“It is important to recall here that several statements have been issued by the military high command to clarify the issue surrounding

the release of the girls, which the whole world applauded.

It is, therefore, worrisome that some sections of the media continue to undermine this modest effort of the government, security agencies and other stakeholders. It is imperative to state categorically that the sponsors of this media campaign have a hidden agenda, which is best known to them,” the statement said.

The military added that it and other security agencies

would not be distracted and would remain focus in achieving its objectives in the North-East, noting that the “important thing is that the release have been made and circumstances surrounding this effort should not be a matter of controversy so as not to overheat the polity and jeorpardising the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the remaining girls and other innocent citizens still in captivity of the terrorists.”

The Army called on

the general public to discountenance the claim, just as it reminded the media to be cautious of such reports.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Boko Haram fighters and their families have reportedly surrendered in Chad in the past month, security and U.N. sources told Reuters, in a sign the military campaign against them is making headway.

Analyst and security sources think the fighters are probably recent recruits

Tinubu, Saraki, Lamido, Abacha’s, Babangida’s wives storm Ibadan Saturday

By Dare Adekanmbi EMINENT Nigerians from across political divides and regions will, on Saturday, gather at Ibadan, Oyo State, to honour some prominent Nigerians with award of excellence for their contributions to national development.

The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki; former governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido; wife of former military Head of State, Chief (Mrs) Maryam Abacha; and wife of former military president, Hajiya Aisha Babangida, are

among those to be honoured at the event to be chaired by the Zamfara State governor, AbdulAziz Yari.

Board of Trustees chairman of the National Progressive Youth Forum of Nigeria (NPYN), SouthWest chapter, which is organising the event, Honourable Gbolagade Abiodun, told newsmen on Friday that the deeds of the selected Nigerians were in tandem with the motto of the body, “helping the masses is our priority.”

NPYN, which is one of the youth organisations in the All Progressives Congress

(APC), listed a former governor of Lagos State and national leader of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu as the father of the day. Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his wife, Florence, are grand chief host and mother of the day respectively.

Gbolagade, who is a former Special Assistant to Governor Ajimobi, said the 2016 edition of the award was in keeping with the vision of the group in honouring and encouraging leaders who have served the country selflessly and have impacted positively on the lives of future generation.

Lagos is home to those who can dream big —Ambode Bola Badmus -Lagos GOVERNOR Akinwunmi Ambode has said that Lagos State has the capacity and wherewithal to accommodate those who can dream big and realise their potentials to the fullest.

Ambode made this assertion on Friday while speaking at the unveiling of the Eko Pearl Towers, a 24-storey state-of-the-art residential building located

Sunday Tribune

within the Eko Atlantic City, Victoria Island, saying the core objectives of his administration was to create an enabling environment for local and foreign investors alike to thrive.

Governor Ambode, who called up Chief Executive Officer of Eko Pearl Construction Company, Mr. Elias Saad and Chief Executive Officer, Chagoury Group, Mr. Ronald Chagoury, to the stage during his remarks at

the occasion, appreciated the duo, saying that they believed in the future of Lagos and did not hesitate to invest.

According to Ambode, who said the state is looking for dreamers and the duo happen to be more than dreamers, said what the combined of Saad and Chagoury had done at the event was nothing but just to inspire the rest of the city of Lagos, adding that “if we join hands together, we can

do it.”

“Lagos is the land of opportunities and many investment opportunities abound in transportation, entertainment and tourism.

Our commitment is to create an environment where your investments are secure and profitable,” the governor said.

He said the Eko Atlantic City Project, when completed, would go a long way to create employment and wealth for the people of the state.

that Boko Haram has struggled to retain as it has ceded territory. Defections of Boko Haram fighters have been reported in Nigeria but are not known to have previously occurred on such a large scale.

“They surrendered to our troops on the front line in Lake Chad,” said Colonel Mohammad Dole, Chief Military Public Information Officer for the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) headquartered in Chad’s capital N’Djamena.

“The surrenders are taking place because of the firepower of our operations. The groups, many of them armed, have been arriving since September and their number keeps increasing,” he said.

family of the slain colonel, Amina Abu Ali said her late brother had been in Maiduguri for the past two years.

According to her, out of the period that he had been in the battle field, he got only two weeks break to see his family.

She said: “I think this was not good for our soldiers at the battle field,” stressing that from the information they gathered, most of the soldiers “are tired and fatigue have gotten hold of him. They need rest.

“It is not easy. So I want to call on the military authorities to ensure that soldiers are redeployed intermittently to the battle field so that we will not experience more casualties.”

The sister maintained that their mother, who was still in shock, could not speak on the loss, as she was trying to come to reality.

Amina, therefore, called on the Federal Government to ensure that Boko Haram insurgency “comes to an end, because it has dealt with so many families.

“Many loved ones who were the breadwinner were killed. We have hundreds of orphans and widows. The destruction was also severe.”

She also called on the authorities to take care of the three children left by her brother, saying, any time we set eyes on them, tears filled our eyes. We really don’t know what to tell them.”

Police arrest 4 robbery suspects operating in military camouflage THE police in Delta have arrested a gang of robbery suspects who disguise in military uniforms to rob victims of their valuables in Warri and environs, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported.

A statement by SP Celestina Kalu, spokesperson of the police command in the state, said the suspects were arrested on the Evereni axis of the East-West road, after a police Dragon patrol intercepted a tricycle.

“On November 10, 2016, a Dragon patrol team, while on duty along Ughelli/Patani road at Evereni, intercepted one tricycle with two different registration numbers: Delta PIN 504 UP at the rear and YEN 403 QU at the front.

“The tricycle was driven by one Obinna Emele.”

“Upon interrogation, the suspect claimed he was sent to deliver the tricycle to one Chigozie Uzodibe at Patani,” the statement read.

It further said that while the suspect was being interrogated, one Kingsley Izunna and Ikechukwu Okonoma, both residents of Port-Harcourt, emerged in a green-coloured BMW car and claimed ownership of the tricycle.

According to the statement, shortly after, a lady, Mercy Itedjere and one Mr Akinbehinje Folorunsho of Bunkery road, Ekpan, came to the scene to claim that the said tricycle was snatched from them in Ekpan on the same day.

“They said four men dressed in military uniform operating in a green-coloured BMW car snatched the tricycle from them while they were riding along Bunkery road in Ekpan,’’ Kalu said.

She disclosed that upon searching the car, two Nigerian Army camouflage uniforms, one other uniform belonging to NIMASA, one walkie-talkie, and six different handsets were recovered.

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13 November, 2016

INEC assembles 1,500 card readers for Lagos bye-election

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HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assembled more than 1,500 card readers for the Dec. byeelection in Ifako-Ijaiye Federal Constituency to achieve seamless exercise.

Mr Clement Oha, the administrative secretary of the commission, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, on Saturday, that the number was twice the number needed for the election.

NAN reported that the bye-election is as a result of the death of Mr Elijah Adewale, who represented the constituency in the House of Representatives. Adewale

died in Abuja on July 20.

Oha said that there were only 687 polling units in the constituency.

“We have prepared a good number of card readers for the election. We have assembled more than 1,500 card readers for accreditation of eligible voters.

“We are charging these card readers and taking adequate steps to ensure that none of them fails. If any fails, because they are machine, we will fix it, or replace immediately.

“We have made adequate preparations; card readers have helped us to reduce multiple voting,” he said.

Oha gave the assurance that INEC would provide

a level-playing field for all political parties to enable a free and fair election.

The INEC boss urged all political parties and their leaders to advise there supporters against violence.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Con-

son from Austria, the chairman of the electoral committee, Adeniyi polled 1,679 votes to defeat his closest rival, Jack Adraka of the United States who scored 511 votes.

Matthew Adeniyi, who was proclaimed as an ambassador in 2013 at the United Nations Headquarters, New York City, the USA, clinched the seat at the Vigyan Bhawan venue of the event.

Prior to the election and inauguration of the Ambassador Adeniyi-led Exco, which will run the affairs of the world youth body for the next four years, WYO was run by a transition commit-

been able to sell itself adequately to the members of the constituency.

According to him, the party is fully on ground and admired by most of the residents.

“My message is that all parties should observe the

Lagos dep gov, others for WISCAR anniversary

By Tayo Gesinde WOMEN in Successful Careers (WISCAR), a mentoring programme for professional career women, will be converging great men and women at its annual mentorship and leadership event and is also set to induct another batch of suc-

Nigerian emerges President-General of World Youth Organisation AMBASSADOR Matthew Adeyemi Adeniyi has emerged the substantive President-General of World Youth Organization (WYO), an affiliate of the United Nations (UN).

Ambassador Adeniyi was elected and inaugurated yesterday in New Delhi, India, as the first elected President-General of WYO, after a keenly contested election where he triumphed over other contestants from eight countries namely the US, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Yemen, Palestine, Albania, Sudan and Nepal.

According to Davies John-

gress (APC), Mr Akintunde Fadayomi, on Saturday expressed optimism that the APC would win the byeelection.

Fadayomi, the chairman of APC in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area, told the NAN that the APC had

tee held by Max Goodwin Kieran from Romford, the United Kingdom.

Other EXCO members of the organisation with Ambassador Adeniyi for the next four years are Karla Sugey Rodriguez (Mexico), Secretary General; Claire Pace (Malta), Treasurer; and Vice Presidents Devjyoti Dutya (North America), Rochana Richardson (Europe), Emmah Musenyah (Africa), Fursan Mohammed (Asia), Junior Menezes (South America), Elvana Shala (Australia). All other countries of the world are represented at the executive committee level.

cessful mentees.

The WISCAR mentorship and Leadership program encourages professional career women to achieve their full potential and also guides them to make informed career choices.

This year’s event which has the theme “Women Rising- Transforming leadership” is scheduled to hold on Saturday, December 10, 2016 at The Ace Olivia Hall City Mall, Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos. It will highlight the importance of the contribution of women to the growth and development of the nation and ensure equal opportunity and empowerment of women for real development to occur in the country.

The keynote speech for this event will be given by the first female Rear Admiral in Nigeria, Rear Admiral Itunu Hotonou, and the goodwill message will be delivered by Dr Idiat Oluranti Adebule, Deputy Governor of Lagos State as a special guest of Honor.

This will be followed by a panel discussion of carefully selected women who are leaders in their various fields of endeavor which

includes; Abiola Alabi – Former Managing Director MNET, Bolanle Austen Peters - Founder Terra culture and Mrs. Hajara Adeola -Managing Director, Lotus Capital

Sunday Tribune

rules as contained in the electoral Act; let us eschew violence, crisis and any acts capable of marring the poll.

“Violence in electoral process can only lead to election not concluded within a period provided by law.

“If the environment is conducive and everyone conducts himself or herself in accordance with the law, we can assure residents that, on our part, we will not fail in our mandate,” Oha said.

Clerics, political associates extol former Oyo gov, Lam Adesina’s virtues

By Moses Alao ISLAMIC clerics and politicians have extolled the virtues of the Late former governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Lamidi Onaolapo Adesina, describing him as a politician who feared Allah, served humanity and related with everyone with love, irrespective of their origin or religion.

Making these disclosures at the weekend during the fourth year Fidau prayer held for the former governor and father of the member representing Ibadan North-East/Ibadan SouthEast in the House of Representatives, Honourable Adedapo Lam-Adesina, the clerics praised the former governor for his commitment to Islam and service

to humanity, just as they prayed for the lawmaker.

They also commended the wife of the deceased, Alhaja Saratu, for keeping the family together and continuing to uphold the good works by the former governor.

Speaking at the event, which brought together many of Lam Adesina’s political associates and chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, including Chief Iyiola Oladokun, Chief Isamotu Ashiru, Alhaji Fatai Ibikunle, a former commissioner in the state, Dr Kola Balogun, APC state secretary, Alhaji Mojeed Olaoya, Ibikunle lauded Adesina for his “open door policy and undiscriminating disposition to people.”

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13 November, 2016

SUNDAY

Nigeria’s Rasheedat Ajibade (right) struggles for the ball with England’s Connie Scofield at the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Jordan this year. Ajibade is among the players listed by the Falconets for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup which begins today in Papua New Guinea.

sport

Editor: Wale Emosu tribunesporteditor@yahoo.com 08111813054

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup:

Falconets begin campaign against Japan

By Ganiyu Salman

N

IGERIA’S Falconets open their campaign in the eighth FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Papua New Guinea today against their counterparts from Japan in a group B clash billed for the Bava Park Stadium, Port Moresby by 7pm local time (10am Nigeria time).

The other Nigeria’s group opponents are Spain and Canada.

It will be recalled that Nigeria having lost 0-2 in the final of the 2010 edition to hosts, Germany, also lost in the 2014 edition also to Germany, 0-1 where Asisat Oshoala clinched the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award and also emerged the tournament’s Goal Queen with seven goals.

The Peter Dedevbo girls are battle-ready for the competition as they trained on Friday evening under floodlights at the Bava Park Stadium to have a feel of the turf.

The Falconets were also at home with the weather in their match venue, Port Moresby according to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).

“Among themselves, the girls have continued to talk about the weather that they have unanimously agreed is equivalent to the one back home in Nigeria.

“One of the players, Ogechi Ukwuoma, on Thursday morning exclaimed that she now appreciated better Coach Peter Dedevbo’s training schedule while in camp in Abuja.

“I now understand why the coach always insisted that we train earlier in the afternoon in Nigeria. The weather here is comparable to the one we had in Abuja,” NFF’s spokesman, Ademola Olajire said in a statement.

Captain of the Flamingoes to the just-ended FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Jordan, Rasheedat Ajibade and team-mate, Aminat Yakubu made the team to Papua New Guinea as they join Chiwendu Ihezuo and Charity Reuben in the attack.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian community in Papua New Guinea has mobilised support for the Falconets ahead of their group opener against Japan.

The Nigerians in Papua New

Guinea offered prayers for the players and the officials of the Falconets in Port Moresby as they seek their first triumph in the global championship which began in 2002.

Nigeria will be meeting Japan at this level for the fourth time after a win, draw and loss but the Japanese lead on goals having scored eight as against Nigeria’s four.

Kano Pillars send 5 to labour market

FOUR-TIME champions, Kano Pillars, have placed five of their players in the transfer window of the off-season in the Nigeria Professional Football League.

According to the spokesman of the club, Idris Malikawa, the players failed to perform well at the justended season, while the others were released on “medical ground.”

“Kano Pillars has sent five of its players into the transfer market,” Malikawa stated.

“The players were declared surplus to requirement based on the recommendations of the technical crew. The affected players did not perform well last season while some were dropped on medical ground.”

But Kano Pillars did not reveal the names of the players as it has become a tradition by Nigerian clubs when players are released or transfer-listed.

However, supersport. com scooped that the players would have to look for new clubs who will now negotiate with Kano Pillars for their exit before they are handed their clearance papers.

Suwon tourney: Nigeria lose all matches

ABS FC players celebrating their return to the Nigeria Professional Football League after their last game of the season.

ABS will challenge for NPFL title — Chukwuemeka DIRECTOR of Football, Abubakar Bukola Saraki (ABS) FC of Ilorin, Alloy Chukwuemeka, has said his club will be more consistent earlier in the Nigeria Professional Football League to “compete” for the league title with their style of play.

ACC, as he is fondly called by his admirers believes that NPFL returnee will have what it takes to challenge

Sunday Tribune

Enyimba, Rangers and Kano Pillars next season.

The Executive Secretary of NPFL Club Owners said, ABS will have enough quality to challenge for top spot and suggests that there will be a shared desire in the squad to be ‘right up there’ next season.

“We will work hard as a unit. We want to show that we’re a good side and we want to be right up there,”

Chukwuemeka told sportstalkafrica.com.

He stressed that the club is moving into a new dimension in terms of its financial situations.

“We have got fantastic support from the club president [Senate President, Bukola Saraki] and we’re very confident with the positive progression. We should be able to compete for the league title.”

Meanwhile, the management of the team has said it will retain 15 of its 33 players registered last season.

The Welfare Officer of ABS FC, Ahmed Abdullahi, disclosed this to journalists in Ilorin on Saturday, adding that the decision to send 18 players to the labour market was taken after a meeting with the players, technical crew and management on Friday evening.

NIGERIA’S U-19 side led

by Manu Garba on Saturday lost their third and final match at the Suwon Invitational Tournament in South Korea.

They were battered 8-1 by England in their opening game, before they lost 0-1 to Iran, meaning they scored only a goal and let in a staggering 12 goals.

They finished rock bottom of the competition.

They have complained about the freezing weather conditions as well as the huge time difference of eight hours ahead of Nigeria.

On Saturday, hosts Korea led 1-0 by half time, before they scored two more goals after the interval.

The team are due back in the country this week.

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sportmatazz

13 November, 2016

I have no regrets cheating on my ex–wife —Tiger Woods

Tiger with ex-wife Elia Nordegen

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IGER Woods has one regret, and it’s not the 2009 cheating scandal that led

to the end of his marriage to Elin Nordegren.

The 40-year-old professional golfer revealed the

Sunday Tribune

one thing that he wishes he could’ve changed, during an hour-long interview with Charlie Rose on Thursday.

to you?,” Rose asked.

Woods reaffirmed his initial answer, before making mention of his 2010 divorce from Nordegren.

“All the things I’ve been through, yes. They’ve been tough, but they’ve been great for me,” Woods said adding, “But I wish I would’ve gone one more year at Standford.”

Despite not regretting his infidelity, Woods noted that the experience was “rough

“The only regret I have in life is not spending another year at Stanford [University],” Woods told Rose. “I wish I would’ve had one more year.”

Seemingly surprised by his answer, Rose attempted to get more out of Woods.

“That’s the only regret? Of all the things that happened

Rooney celebrates son at 7

to go through,” and called Nordegren one of his “best friends.”

He went on to share how he has explained the divorce to their children, Sam, 9, and Charlie, 7.

“It’s because daddy made some mistakes,” Woods said of speaking with his son and daughter. “Daddy made some mistakes and I’d much rather have them hear it from me.”

Curry puts $3.7m house on the market

WAYNE and Coleen Rooney shared heartfelt messages to their son Kai, who turned seven on Wednesday. The doting parents took to their respective Instagram accounts to share a series of sweet images of their little boy growing up.

“Happy 7th Birthday to our Kai!! Have the best day, love you loads,” his mother proudly wrote in the caption, while the football star shared a picture of the birthday boy posing next to his cake, and said: “Happy 7th Birthday to our big boy Kai!” Fans of the couple were quick to respond to their tributes, with one commenting: “What a gorgeous boy he’s turning into, Happy Birthday Kai.” “Image of his Legend of a daddy,” one fan noted, while another added: “Wow 7 That’s gone fast have a good day [mate].”

Meanwhile, the England captain’s eldest son appears to be taking after his dad as he is showing more interest in becoming a pro-

fessional footballer.

“It’s up to him if he does it - I wouldn’t be too bothered either way,” the father-of-three recently told MailOnline. “If he does, that’s up to him. Certainly every day he’s obsessed by football, and every day he asked if I think he’s good enough, so I’m sure he’ll have a go and see if he can.”

Wayne and his wife Coleen

- who have been together since they were 16, and married in 2008 - are proud parents to Kai, their threeyear-old son Klay and Kit, who was born in January.

The pair often take to their social media sites to share lovely images of their family, giving fans an insight into their personal lives.

Last week, the 31-yearold footballer - who re-

STEPHEN Curry has been busy making some real estate moves lately, buying and selling multiple homes in California.

The Golden State Warriors basketball star, who scored a record 402 threepointers last season, has just put his Bay Area mansion in Walnut Creek on the market for $3.7 million. This is $500,000 more than what he and his wife, Ayesha, paid for the 7,520-square-foot, five bedroom home just last year.

Since Curry, 28, bought the property in November last year, the NBA star has made $400,000 worth of improvements to the home,

cently celebrated his own birthday - uploaded one of the most adorable pictures of his three little boys.

“Best mates,” the image was simply captioned alongside a heart-shaped emoticon. The snap shows nine-month-old Kit stare at Kai who was looking at three-year-old Klay, all wrapped up in towels after bath time.

Gerrard’s wife expecting baby no 4

Gerrard and his family

ALEX Gerrard and her husband Steven are expecting their fourth child together next year. The new arrival will join big sisters Lilly-Ella, 12, Lexie, 10 and Lourdes, five.

Taking to her Twitter page on Friday morning, the mother-of-three made the big announcement, sharing a sweet black and white picture of her daughters looking at an ultrasound photo of their new sibling.

“We are all very excited for our new baby to arrive next year !! number 4,” she tweeted alongside several

baby emoticons. She later thanked fans for their well wishes, saying: “Thank you to everyone for all your lovely messages!”

Speaking previously to HELLO!, Alex opened up about the possibility of having a little boy to follow in Steven’s footballing footsteps. “I know Steven has said before he would like one but the chances of us having one is slim with having three girls,” she confessed. “He laughs and says he can’t risk it - it’s going to cost him a fortune in weddings if we have another girl!”

including a newly designed kitchen, which his wife used to film her Food Network series “Ayesha’s Homemade,” according to the listing for the property.

The mansion is perfect for entertaining and boasts a billiards rooms, a wet bar, a 2,000-bottle wine cellar, multiple terraces and a separate casita with a private bathroom and kitchen.

The family is selling as they have moved into larger home in Alamo, also in the Bay Area, which they bought for $5.8 million earlier this year, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported the story. It boasts a main house, a detached guest house and an infinity-edge swimming pool.

These are not the only real estate moves that Curry and his wife have made lately.

In June, the couple sold their five bedroom home in Orinda, California, about 20 miles outside of San Francisco, for $4.65 million. This was $755,000 above the asking price.

The couple also made some significant home improvements to that property, including revamping the kitchen and adding a swimming pool and a basketball hoop in the driveway.

Curry’s brokers declined to give further details.

47

sport

13 November, 2015

World Cup qualifiers:

Mbesuma earns Zambia point in Cameroon A

France get first woman football chief NATHALIE Boy De La Tour became the first female president of one of European football’s big leagues when she took over the French Professional Football League (LFP) on a four-year term on Friday.

Boy De La Tour, 48, who previously worked with the ‘Football Foundation’ which promotes the game in the community, takes over from Frédéric Thiriez who resigned last month after 14 years.

Former France coach, Raymond Domenech, who had been among the candidates, withdrew from the running after he was rejected in the first round by the general assembly.

French Football Federation president Noël Le Graët welcomed the appointment of “an intelligent woman” who “will calm excessive, sometimes passionate men”.

“She’s someone who knows the functioning of the Federation and League well, she’s full of humanity, wisdom, I think it’s a good choice,” he said.

Boy de la Tour had not initially been a candidate but emerged as a late runner as the LFP, which oversees the 40 professional clubs in France’s top two leagues, was in crisis following Thiriez’s departure.

“I’m very happy to be among you, astonished and emotional,” she said. “It is not an election that was expected, now I am extremely happy and I hope to meet expectations.”

Divisions between the top clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain, Lyon and Marseille, and smaller sides flared up in October and the vote for a president could not be taken.

first half goal from Collins Mbesuma handed Zambia a 1-1 draw against Cameroon in a group B 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier at Stade Omnisport in Limbe on Saturday.

The result kept the Chipolopolo back in contention for the ticket as Algeria are left also with one point after losing 1-3 to Nigeria’s Super Eagles in Uyo. The hosts, Cameroon found the back of the net through a penalty from Vincent Aboubakar and now sit at second spot with two points from two draws so far.

Goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene was called to make a save in the sixth minute to deny Benjamin Moukandjo after a great move in

Mbesuma

... As Bafana survive Senegal scare SOUTH Africa moved top of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying group D following a 2-1 win over Senegal on Saturday at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane.

First-half goals from Thulani Hlatshwayo and Thulani Serero leading Bafana Bafana to a moral

Fed Cup: Ejidike hails FC

IfeanyiUbah, Rivers Angels

NIGERIA’S Pillar of Sports, Chief Donatus Agu Ejidike, has congratulated the winners of this year’s men and women’s Federation Cups, FC Ifeanyi Ubah and Rivers Angels on their hard-won victories.

Ejidike in a statement described the soccer artistry displayed by the finalists in both categories, FC IfeanyiUbah, Nasarawa United, Rivers Angels and Bayelsa Queens as scintillating which brought the fond memories of the old Challenge Cup many decades ago to the fore.

He lauded the financier of Anambra Warriors, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah for investing in football, a feat that manifested in the determination of the team to cruise to the final and eventually lift the trophy.

“I see Dr Ifeanyi Ubah as another Chief M.K.O Abiola in the making in Nigerian football who against all odds floated a privately-owned professional football club and supported the team with the necessary motivations. He needs encouragement and support as

Sunday Tribune

he is spending his hard-earned money for this social service,” Ejidike noted.

The President, Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN), Ejidike commended the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) for organising a befitting final which he noted attracted an impressive crowd to the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

Ejidike urged the reigning Federation Cup champions, FC IfeanyiUbah to prosecute the CAF Confederation Cup next year with all the zeal it requires and make Nigeria proud on the continent.

boosting victory on home soil, with Shakes Mashaba’s men surviving late pressure by the visitors to seal all three points.

Cheikh N’Doye scored what proved to be a mere consolation for the Teranga Lions, as arguably Africa’s best team suffered a blow to their chances of reaching a first showpiece in 16 years.

Following a rather cagey start to the game, the visitors started to find their rhythm and while they were always going to be a a threat from set-pieces - Sadio Mane emerged as an unlucky threat with the Liverpool man seeing his header attempt wide on nine minutes.

Moussa Konate was then offered time and space on the ball, but the Switzerland-based striker could only succeed in guiding his shot straight at Itumeleng Khune in the 24th minute.

Bafana Bafana showed signs of improvement in the latter exchanges of the first-half and after Keagan Dolly saw his left-footed shot straight at Abdoulaye Diallo

- the hosts hit the front.

South Africa awarded a rather contentious penalty after the ball hit Kalidou Koulibaly’s knee.

The referee, though, was under the impression that the burly defender had handled the ball and pointed to the spot. Hlatshwayo duly took the onus upon himself and drilled the ball into the back of the net on 43 minutes.

With Senegal still protesting the decision, Bafana Bafana pounced to double their lead in the first minute of stoppage-time. Quick interplay between Keagan Dolly and Mpho Makola setting up Serero ,who guided the ball into the back of the net, 2-0 at the break.

the middle of the park.

After absorbing the pressure, the Chipolopolo came close in the 30th minute when Mbesuma connected with Chisamba Lungu’s cross on the left flank, but the forward’s effort went wide not troubling goalkeeper, Joseph Ondoa.

Four minutes later, Mbesuma scored from a set piece in the box delivered by skipper, Rainford Kalaba’s educated left foot and the Highlands Park striker finished from close range.

In the dying minutes of the first half, Hugo Broos’ men received a penalty when a Zambian defender handled the ball in the box, Aboubakar netted beating Mweene to his right.

With four minutes to go, Mweene produced a fine save to deny Aboubakar from a wonderful header to concede a corner on the far post.

Cameroon continued to ramp up the pressure, but Mweene and his teammates held firm to claim a valuable point on their travels.

Friendly: Falcons win 5-0 ahead AWC NIGERIA’S Super Falcons intensified their preparation for the 10th African Women’s Championship (AWC) with a 5-0 thrashing of City Dove FC in a friendly game played on Saturday morning, in Abuja.

The 2016 AWC is billed to hold in Cameroon from November 19 to December 3.

Striker, Desire Oparanozie who plays for Guingamp Féminines of France scored the first and second goal as Alice Ogebe added the third, while Uchechi Sunday of Belarusian Premier League, FC Minsk scored the fourth goal.

Arsenal Ladies FC striker, Asisat Oshoala, put the icing on the cake

with a fifth goal.

The Falcons, seven-time winners of the African title will depart Abuja on Wednesday for Cameroon ahead of their first game against Mali on Sunday, November 20.

It will be recalled that Nigeria won the last tournament in 2014, for the record seven times.

Oshoala

SIDELINES NIGERIA’S MOST INFORMATIVE NEWSPAPER

13 NOVEMBER, 2016

NO 2,072

www.tribune.com.ng

N200

A federal minister recently called on state governors who have refused to conduct local government election to do so first before joining others in calling for true federalism in Nigeria. Well said. It is true such governors must first remove the log in their eyes. But, Nigerians who are not governors also want to exist in a country where any ethnic nationality does not oppress another.

QED:QUITEEASILYDONE

Moses leads Nigeria through the Desert

Cameroon, Zambia draw in World Cup qualifier stories by Niyi Alebiosu - In Uyo

N

IGERIA on Saturday stamped their authority on Group B of the African qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup with an emphatic 3-1 win over the Desert Warriors of Algeria.

The win at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium, Uyo takes the Super Eagles’ points to the maximum six from two matches.

Nigeria’s saviour on the night was Victor Moses who scored two out of the three goals. The Chelsea player, who was making a comeback to the Nigeria team after missing his country’s last match, opened his goalscoring account in the 25th minute.

An interchange of the ball between Moses and captain Mikel Obi had seen Moses advance with the ball into the Algerians’ 18-yard box and it looked like an Algerian defender was going to stop him.

But Moses collected the ball, to slot the ball to the right hand corner of the Algerian net.

Captain Mikel Obi doubled the lead in the 42nd minute after collecting a pass from Oghenekaro Etebo. Mikel made a momentary stop, thinking he was offside, but on discovering that he was at par with Alssa Medhi, he stepped on to put the ball, again, to the

right side of goal keeper Rais M’Bolhi.

The Algerians ruffled the Eagles’ feathers on occasions, but were unlucky until the 49th minute when Nabil Bentalab’s long range left footer beat kepper Daniel Akpeyi flatly.

The attack and counter attack continued un-

til the 90th minute when Ahmed Musa, w h o had come on for A l e x Iwobi, released a right wing pullout for Moses who slotted the ball to the net for Nigeria’s third goal.

Nigeria now lead the pack on six points, followed by Cameroon, who forced Zambia to a 1-1 draw, also on Saturday.

We paid for our mistakes —Algeria coach

COACH of the Fennecs of Algeria, Georges Leekens has blamed his wards for the 1-3 defeat they suffered at the hands of the Super Eagles on Saturday in a 2018 World Cup qualifier.

Leekens, while speaking after the match at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, said the several mistakes made by his players led to victory for the Eagles.

“We paid for our mistakes of giving your team too many chances, we paid dearly for it. We had arrived in Nigeria with high hopes of

defeating the Super Eagles but sadly enough we lost. We shall still try to redeem our hope of qualifying for the World Cup in the remaining games,” Leekens said.

The Belgian tactician, however, commended his players, saying they gave their best despite the defeat.

He stated that the match served as a lesson to his players, adding that “they will not try such mistakes against any serious team again.”

NFF postpones Annual General Assembly THE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has postponed its Annual General Assembly. The AGA was originally scheduled to hold today (Sunday) in Uyo. Tribunesport was informed on Saturday that it will now be held in Abuja next week.

Information made available to Tribunesport had it that the change in venue and date was necessitated by the need to concentrate on yesterday’s World Cup qualifier against Algeria.

Rohr predicts brighter future for Eagles SUPER Eagles technical adviser, Gernot Rohr has predicted a brighter future for the team. Rohr made the remarks while speaking after Nigeria’s 3-1 victory over Algeria in a World Cup qualifier at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo. The Franco-German coach

P NIGERIA 2 CAMEROON 2 ZAMBIA 2 ALGERIA 2

SAVIOUR... Victor Moses

who commended the Eagles for the victory said with the commitment and determination of the players, a brighter future awaits the team.

He further informed that he will continue to experiment on the left full back until he gets a suitable player for the position, just as he added that

W 2 - - -

HOW THEY STAND D L - - 2 - 1 1 1 1

GF 5 2 2 2

the players have so far put in their best.

Speaking on Mikel Obi’s substitution (for Wilfred Ndidi in the 81st minute), Rohr said he had to replace the Chelsea midfielder because there was the need to change the tide of the game, adding that the decision paid off.

GA 2 2 3 4

RESULTS:WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS Nigeria 3 Algeria 1 Cameroon 1 Zambia 1 S/Africa 2 Senegal 1 Libya 0 Tunisia 1 Uganda 1 Congo 0 POOLS: 07, 08, 17, 21, 25, 27, 31, 32, 33, 37, 43. TODAY’S MATCHES: 03, 09.

No Nigerian on shortlist for BBC Award NO Nigerian player was named among the nominees for this year’s BBC African Footballer of the Year Award.

Players like Manchester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho had been touted to make the list until its release on Saturday.

According to the list,

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andre Ayew, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane and Yaya Toure make up the five-man shortlist for the BBC African Footballer of the Year award.

The five candidates were revealed during a special live launch broadcast on Saturday.

The winner will be decided by fans from across the world, who have until 18:00 GMT on 28 November to vote for their choice.

The eventual winner will be announced on Focus on Africa TV and radio on Monday, December 22.

PTS 6 2 1 1

Printed and Published by the African Newspapers of Nigeria PLC, Imalefalafia Street, Oke-Ado, Ibadan. E mail: sundaytribuneeditor@yahoo.com Website: www.tribuneonlineng.com MANAGING DIRECTOR/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: EDWARD DICKSON. EDITOR : SINA OLADEINDE. All Correspondence to P. O. Box 78, Ibadan. ISSN 2712. ABC Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation. 13/11/2016